518 



METHODISTS. 



of a calculation based on the Telocity of sound. 

 If. for instance,** says R. De C. Ward, explaining 

 the method in "Science/ horn*. A and B, 



are placed one east and OM wast of a given p-int 

 in a north-and-aouth channel, and each - miles 

 from the point, and these horns are blown simul- 

 taneously and automatically at regular intervals of 



A minute. a captain who tning to wos 

 ship through the channel can readily get hi- 



l**ing that one horn has a higher pitch 

 than and that a Teasel is on. mile east of 



Manuel U-twe.n the two horns, the ea|>!ain of 

 the high-toned whi-t.. \ live 

 after -n. because it is only one 



taut, but M will not be heard for : 



three milrs <.fT. If Ixith horns 



are heard together, thr \. -^ 1 i- in thr middle of 



D of the 



method of determining j f vessels is sug- 



gerted in the case of one Teasel attempting to HM 



in the case of the calculation 



ibOTC when thr -hip's 



\t within a second or two of that on shore. 



i- blown at the exact be- 



determinatioo of the 



thr wind ted as being a useful 



application <-f illy in the 



ease of very high winds, which are apt to injure 



anemometers. 



A phvsical theorv of the electrical phenomena of 

 thr higher atmosphere is suggested by M. Marcel 

 Brilloum. Any metallic bodv charged negatively 

 loses its charge ...-.! to ultra-violet light, 



and it is shown by cx)criinents that dry ice under 

 similar conditions behaves likewise. Mu't when the 

 ice has a film of water ujx.n it the loss is extn 

 small. A- cirrus cloud- con-i-t of ice needles and 

 receive ultra- violet radiations from thr sun, nega- 

 lectliflcation may pa-- from thr needles into 

 - irMundii . .-.ingthe cloud particles 



charged positively. Hence the author concludes 

 that atmospheric electricity is |>ro<luccd l.y the ac- 

 i<>let solar radiatioofl upon the ice 

 needles in cirrus r]..ud-. and that the initial elec- 

 trical field is produced I iy the movements of the 

 higher regions of the atmosphere relatively t tin- 

 magnetic field. 



f action of the atmosphere, or re- 

 gions at which the mean barometric maxima and 

 minima are situated, have been studied l.y I). II. II. 

 Hildebrandsson. The monthly differences of the 

 pressure of the air from the 'mean, as being the 

 ipal meteorological element. \\, n- calculated 

 for the years 1875 to 1884 at 68 stations, distrib- 

 uted as widely as possible over the surface of the 

 globe; the mean differences were then plotted 

 upon monthly charts. The results obtained from 

 nes of equal d -...w that the differ- 



ences are greater in winter than in -uinm. r and 



'.he rmiator toward the pola 



gions, and a!-" that thr ban-met ri-al variations at 

 certain li--liti< for example. a t the Aj 

 in the vicmiiy of Iceland MB almost always oppo- 

 site in sign, especial tie figures are large; 

 and that the greatest differences are found in Janu- 

 ary and July in the vicinitf o f Greenland and Ice- 

 land, o,, the one hand, an<f to the north of Russia, 

 Sea and St Pet the 

 iwrfon seems to establish the fact 

 that a kind of oscillation extsU at all places in the 

 pressure of the air between a center of high pres- 

 sure and another adiacent center of low pressure. 

 The author hones to derive practical results from a 

 closer study of tbee relations for th- prediction of 

 weather for long periods. 



METIlolUxiv |. Methodist KpiM'opal 

 C'hurrh.-The statistical tables published in the 



irbook" for 1808 give as the total 



numbers in the 1'J-t annual conferences, in n. 



' this Church in all. 

 146 01 - itinerant ministers. 



'iom are on trial; 14.5o;i local pn-ach. i - : -'>"!.- 



iinnbep*. of whom 'nil mem- 



bers" oners" ; :ti. :;:,:. MIH- 



rs and t. 

 .740 uils; -J;.IM churches, valued at 



646,885; 10.263 parsonages, Talued at * 



and 85,159 baptisms of childn n ami lor..^05 of 



ailults dir ear. 



e receipts .f"th.- Tract - r the year 



ending Nov. :m. ISJM;. ';:,. and the e\j,, nd- 



ituro *1 made .lur- 



ing 1896 to all t he mi i"H fields of t he < 'hunt 

 tracts wer- ited throughout tin- Tniled 



work, to immi_ ' tie inmates of ho-; 



prisons, and asylum^. :ind ! the \vhole 



amount consisting -f in. 1 jgea,and8 



464 i)age.s of the periodical "(iood Tidings." 



The total receipts for the \,-ar "f the I;,,., 

 I filiation were $93,322, sho\\ increase of 



$6,889.' The whole nnmlier of stud. > : edu- 



cational institutions connected with thr Church 

 was ! 4,508 more than in tin* pr> 



The value "f properly and < ndowniei.: 



elusive of debts, was $28,526,869, having been in- 



-'.44,190; the total value of 1 1 

 of t he. schools was $1,958,169. an in 

 168, and the largest sum ever received on that ac- 

 count: and the total value of gif d was 



in increase of $229,044 Seventeen hun- 



dred and fifty-four students of v r na- 



tionalities had been aided from the fun 



icty. Two hundred and eighty-three of t he 

 'iaries were women, and more than two 



thirds of the whole number were preparing I- 



ministry. 



The total receipts of the Sunday school I 

 for the year endiiu 



and the expenditures were $l!i.447. The number 

 of Sunday schools reported was: In the United 

 States 31,121, with :!0.fi:{:{ officers and tea 

 and 2.620,010 pupiN; of schools in foreign lands, 



with !i.:i!7 officers and teachers and 1' 

 pupils. The reports -h>\ved increase durin 

 year in the Tinted States of 862 schools. 

 officers and teachers and 34,832 pupil 

 officer- and teacher- :: I -.'.;.. and of the pupils 



hurch members or probati- 



Two hundred and thirty even new schools had 

 rii/.cd during the year by m<ati-f t he 

 Kindge fund. 



( luircli i:\ten-ion.-Tlie annual meet;: 

 the lioard of Chiircl. n was held at i 



burg. I 'a.. Nov. 4. The t 



that the total receipt- for the year had been 

 $241.497. of which $158,863 were on the general 

 fund, and $',>.(;:',! on the Loan fund. 

 crease in total receipts from the pn 

 was $14. 7 1 1. Ki\-e hundred applications had i>. en 

 dered, asking for donation- of *ll7.rjo and 

 loans of x i" which 4:'.! were grant. 



donations of $57,325 and loans of $7!' 

 frontier churct al gift- < 



each from j friends, administered under the 



regular met ho. : ted the be-t part of the 



work. The<egift- were often accompanied by 

 of like amount >*. and were applied by preferene.- in 

 new and growing frontier communities. The mini- 

 mum cost of the churches was $1.250, but the 

 average of actual cost at the timeof dedicatioi 

 found to be more than $2.0()0. Ten of 

 churches had been added during the year, making 

 the whole number 605, aeeommodati 





