Xov. 9, 1876] 



NATURE 



49 



Mr. Knobel's statement that with one exception he has " per- 



ally examined ' every paper or book to which reference is 



de," will afford an idea of the expend'ture of time and trouble 



nvolved in the production of his catalogue. By the way, the 



= >ne exception refers to the " Sidereal Messenger," issued by the 



late Prof. O. M. Mitchell, while director of the Observatory at 



Cincinnati, which Mr. Knobel says is "not in the British 



^' ^useum nor the libraries of the Royal Society and the Royal 



'* ' tronomical Society." The writer is able to testify to a circum- 



ce from his own experience, which may throw some light on 



rarity of this periodical in our scientific libraries. He was 



of a favoured few in this country to whom Prof. Mitchell 



the "Sidereal Messenger." It arrived through the post in 



or more numbers at a time, but the postal arrangements with 



United States not being then on the liberal footing of the 



ent day, and Prof. Mitchell unluckily enveloping his journal 



a a stiff" cover, heavy letter-postage was demanded for the suc- 



■^ essive deliveries. The demand increased on each occasion, 



-^ intil the presentation of one, which would have left but small 



^ hange out of a sovereign, closed the writer's knowledge of the 



-idereal Messenger," and he has some recollection that the pre- 



■ I^lumian Piofessor of Astronomy informed him at the time 



' ' iiat his own receipt of the paper terminated about the same epoch, 



,nd for a similar reason. If this be a mistake, perhaps the 



;, leriodical to its termination may be found in the library of the 



.ambridge Observatory. No. 4 contains the author's early 



sures of the companion of Antares, which he detected at 



,..:cinnati, in 1845, with measures of »j Coronce and one or two 



, [ther double stars of no particular interest. The "Sidereal 



T'-ssenger " was not continued for any length of time. 



METEOROLOGICAL NOTES 

 LiMATEOF Manitoba.— In the jfoumal oi i\\Q Austrian 

 corological Society for October i, there appears a valuable 

 _ )aper on this subject by Dr. A. Wojeikoff, based on obser- 



■ations made for a period of about five years at Winnipeg, the 

 ,^ apital of this province of Canada. The results, a monthly 

 ' ;^ esutit^ of which accompanies the paper, show a mean atmo- 

 !^ pheric pressure about three-tenths ;of an inch less in summer 

 '^^ han in winter, and in consequence of the position of Manitoba 

 ^ vith reference to the diminished pressure in the interior of the 

 :] ontinent at this season, N. and N.W. winds prevail there 

 ' 9 per cent, less, and N.E. E., S., and W. winds 26 per cent. 

 ''_l aore in summer than in winter. Leaving out September, the 

 ■ ' ainfall of which appears to be exceptional. May and June are 



he two rainiest months, and next to these come April and July, 

 ';'• he rainfall of Winnipeg being in these respects closely analogous 

 '• that of the prairie region of the Western States. The rain- 



* all for the year is only 22 inches. The'greatest amount of cloud 

 '' nd the greatest relative humidity occur in November. The 

 •• lean annual temperature is 34''-o, the coldest month January, 



* leing C^, and the warmest July, 66° 7. The winter tempe- 

 ' ature is thus as cold as that of Archangel, but the summer 

 ' emperature as warm as that of Paris. The high summer tem- 

 •^ lerature and generous rainfall from April to July, the rainfall 



- ising from i -85 inches in April to 3-58 inches in June, mark the 



• limate of Manitoba as admirably suited for the successful culti- 



in of wheat-, barley, potatoes, turnips and other agricultural 



acts of temperate regions. Dr. Wojeikoff draws an interest- 



ng comparison between the climates of the prairies of Manitoba 



* nd Minnesota on the one hand, and the Steppes of Western 

 ! jiberia on the other, and shows that the seasonal distribution of 

 "emperature of Winnipeg is all but identical with j that of 

 ji schim, and that of St. Paul with Saratow. An important 

 a:t limatic difference must, however, be kept in view, viz., the 

 "i ummer rains are several weeks earlier in Manitoba than in 

 ■ai Liberia. 



Sirocco at Pau.— In the same number M. Piche, Secretary 

 of the Meteorological Commission of the Lower Pyrenees, com- 

 municates a short notice of a sirocco which occurred in that 

 part of France on September i, 1874, during which the temper- 

 ature rose at Biarritz to l0l°-3, and the humidity fell to 38, the 

 humidity falling still lower, or to 33, at Eaux-Bonnes. The 

 extraordinary heat and dryness of the sirocco, which came from 

 the south and south-east are attributed by M. Piche to the course 

 it had pursued, that course being from Africa, across the Pyrenees, 

 and thence down on Pau, this wind being thus quite analogous to 

 the fohn of the Alps. The sirocco of the Lower Pyrenees being 

 merely the in-draught towards a low atmospheric pressure accom- 

 panying a great storm which is advancing from the west, it follows 

 that as soon as the wind veers to W. or to N.W., and conse- 

 quently no longer crosses the Pyrenees before reaching Pau, it 

 may be expected that the air will become instantly saturated with 

 moisture, and rain begin to fall. This is just what takes place, 

 and the" connection between the sirocco and Atlantic storms is 

 well recognised, and finds expression in the weather-prognostic 

 current at Pau, "The drier the air the nearer the rain." 



The Norwegian Atlantic Expedition.— Prof. Mohn 

 communicates to the Bulletin International an interesting note 

 on the Norwegian scientific cruise of last summer. The hourly 

 meteorological observations will not 'only be discussed with a 

 view to ascertain the diurnal periods during the summer months, 

 but also be compared with simultaneous observations made on 

 land with the view of tracing the connection which subsists 

 between the weather and its changes on sea and land respectively 

 In addition to the observations usually made on board the navy 

 of Norway, the humidity of the air, the evaporation from sea- 

 water, the velocity of the wind, and the rainfall were observed. 

 The zoological collection is rich and varied, many of the species 

 found are new to science, and will necessitate the establishment 

 of new genera. A valuable collection has been made of speci- 

 mens of the sea-bottom taken at each sounding, of sea-water 

 from the bottom and the surface, and of the rocks and minerals 

 of Faro and Westmanna Island. The stormy character of the 

 weather prevented magnetic observations being made on board, 

 but such observations were very carefully made at Huso, in 

 Sognefiord, Reykjavik, and Namsos in Norway. The expense of 

 the cruise, inclusive of the instruments and apparatus, has been 

 165,000 francs — an expenditure which can only be regarded as 

 liberal for such a country as Norway — and it is intimated to be 

 the intention of the Norwegian Government to resume the pro- 

 secution of the researches in the next two years, extending them 

 in the direction of Jan Magen and Spitzbergen. 



Barometers of Southern Russia. — M. Moritz, the eminent 

 director of the Tiflis Observatory, makes an important communi- 

 cation to the Bulletin International of October 26, regarding the 

 barometers of the stations in the south of Prussia. Prof. Wild, 

 in the Annals of the Central Physical Observatory of St. Peters- 

 burg for 1874, states that the barometer at Tiflis is 0*028 inch 

 lower than that at Nicolaieff. The determination of the true 

 difference of the readings of these two barometers is of more 

 importance than appears at first sight, because the barometers 

 of all the Russian stations on the borders of the Black Sea have 

 their errors determined by that of the barometer at Nicolaieff, or 

 as it is technically phrased, are controlled by it, whereas all the 

 barometers of the Caucasian Stations are controlled by that of 

 Tiflis. Now these southern Russian Stations, taken as a whole, 

 can supply data, unique of its kind, towards the solution of such 

 questions of general meteorology as concerns the influence of 

 large sheets of water and lofty mountain ranges on the state of 

 the atmosphere and its movements, if only we be quite certain 

 that the barometric readings at the numerous stations over the 

 region are comparable with each other. During the past 

 summer M, Moritz has made a careful comparison of the Tiflis 



