114 



NA TORE 



[Deckmber 3. 1891 



of which have been received. It is hoped that, when the 

 arrangements are complete, these reports will be published 

 from six to eight weeks after current date. The materials used 

 are the morning observations taken at 136 stations, and after- 

 noon observations taken at 82 stations ; and eventually, 

 a monthly summary of rainfall observations will be given 

 for about 2500 stations. The text contains full discus- 

 sions of the chief features of the weather, under each of the 

 principal elements, illustrated by maps showing the mean 

 distribution of the conditions for the month, and the variations 

 from the mean. The report for January also contains a brief 

 review of the meteorology of the year 1890, in which it is stated 

 that conditions were very abnormal in Upper India, and very 

 favourable for a severe winter in the hill district?, and for abun- 

 dant rain in the plain districts, while the snowfall in the Kash- 

 . mir Himalayas and Afghanistan during November and.December 

 • was abnormally heavy. Temperature was steadily below the 



average in Northern India, but was excessive in the peninsula. 

 The Ahhandlungen of the Royal Prussian Meteorological 



Institute (Bd. i., No. 4, 1891) contain the first part of a treatise 



■ on the climate of Berlin, referring to rainfall and thunderstorms. 

 Berlin possesses a long series of observations, commencing with 

 the beginning of the eighteenth century, but in this investigation 

 some of the earlier observations have not been used, The sub- 

 jects treated of are :—(i) The amount of rainfall, the annual mean 

 being given as 23 inches. The extreme values varied from I4"26 

 inches in 1887 to 30 inches in 1882. The wettest months 

 were June and July, yielding together 24 per cent, of the annual 

 amount. (2) Rain frequency. The average number of days on 

 which more than o*o8 inch fell was 152. The months of greatest 

 rainfall frequency were November and December. (3) Hail and 



■ soft hail {Graupel). The former occurred on 2 to 3 days and the 

 ^ latter on 3 to 4 days in each year, and mostly in the months May, 



June, and July. (4) Snow. A Berlin winter numbers on an 

 average 33 snowy days. The distribution according to months is 

 very curious : snow does not occur most frequently in the 

 coldest months ; it falls as often in March as in December. It 

 jies on the ground 49 days on an average. (5) Intensity of rain- 

 fall. Daily falls of more than 2 inches are quite exceptional, 

 and of 1 1 inches are not frequent. The greatest fall was 1-86 

 inches in i| hours. (6) Wet and dry periods. Attention is 

 more particularly given to periods of short duration ; wet periods 

 of five or more days are fewer than dry periods of similar length ; 

 the former average 7-5 and the latter 13-2 per year. (7) 

 Thunderstorms. Berlin enjoys comparative immunity from 

 thunderstorms, as they occur on an average on only 15 days 

 in the year, about half of them being in June and July. This 

 valuable discussion has been carried out by Prof. G. Hellmann. 



The common type of cyclone weather is sometimes materially 

 altered by orographical conditions. This is the case, e.g., at 

 Turin, as recently shown by Signor Rizzo (in a paper to the 

 Academy there). He cites thirty-three cases in the last twenty- 

 five years, which indicate the general course of the weather 

 when a cyclone passes over Northern or Central Europe. After 

 fall of the barometer, with strong west wind, the sky clears, the 

 temperature rises considerably, and the moisture of the air 

 diminishes. This is explained by the influence of the Alps. 

 The strong west wind is forced up the mountain-range, so that 

 its aqueous vapour is condensed, and falls as rain and snow on 

 the western slopes and summit. After crossing the ridge, it 

 descends, and, having parted with its moisture, appears as a 

 warm dry wind (thus forming an unusual feature in cyclones). 



The temperature of the rivers of Central Europe has been 

 recently investigated by Herr Forster, of the Society of Geo- 

 graphers at Vienna University ; the monthly and annual means 

 being obtained from thirty-one stations. He distinguishes (with 



NO. I 153, VOL. 45] 



reference to river and air temperature) the following types : — 

 (rt) Glacier rivers. These are always warmer than the air in 

 winter, and much cooler in summer ; on the average of the 

 year, they are about 1° colder. (/') Glacier rivers modified by 

 lakes, and rivers from lakes in general. These are, except in 

 spring, warmer than the air, therefore warmer on the annual 

 average, {c) Mountain rivers. Like glacier rivers, these are 

 warmer in winter and cooler in summer than the air, but the 

 difference, especially in summer, is not nearly so great ; so that, 

 on the average of the year, it is approximately 0°. {d) Flat 

 country rivers. Their temperature is, throughout the year, 

 higher than that of the air ; and the annual average difference 

 is over 1°. Sometimes a different relation between river and 

 air temperature is found in the upper part of a river and in the 

 lower, and transition-types occur between those above indicated. 



The Bahama Islands are soon to be connected with the 

 general telegraphic system of Great Britain and the world. 

 A submarine cable about 200 miles long will be laid from a 

 point about five miles from Nassau, New Providence, to a 

 point about the same distance from Jupiter Inlet, on the south- 

 east coast of Florida. The cable has been designed for the 

 Government of the colony by Mr. W. H. Preece. It will be 

 insulated with gutta-percha, and is being manufactured by 

 Messrs. W. T. Henley and Co. It will be laid in January or 

 February next by the steamer Westmeaih, belonging to that 

 firm. As the Western Union Telegraphic Company's Floridan 

 lines do not at present run so far south as Jupiter Inlet, the 

 station at the American terminus of the cable will be in charge 

 of the officers of the United States Weather Bureau, who will 

 transmit the messages to the Western Union Company's 

 system over their private line. Traffic between England and 

 the Bahamas will thus pass through the Atlantic cables. 



At a meeting held at Aylesbury on Saturday it was resolved, 

 on the motion of Sir Harry Verney, that it was desirable to 

 establish a County Museum for Bucks, and that an executive 

 committee should be appointed to take the necessary measures. 

 Letters from various eminent men of science were read at the 

 meeting. Prof. Flower, writing from the British Museum, 

 pointed out that a good County Museum, well arranged, neat, 

 and attractive, might be the means of conveying instruction and 

 giving interest and pleasure to thousands, and that money, 

 time, knowledge, and sympathetic care must be expended upon 

 it. Prof. Alfred Newton, of Magdalene College, Cambridge, 

 said that the proposal to establish a Museum for Buckingham- 

 shire had his best wishes. He advocated the founding of a 

 maintenance fund, which should be vested in trustees. Prof. 

 Green, of the University Museum, Oxford, contended that in 

 the proposed Museum care should be taken for the proper selec- 

 tion of objects, the primary end being to illustrate the district in 

 which it existed. 



Dr. Ermling contributes to the current number of Globus 

 an interesting paper on the Nurhagi of Sardinia, There 

 are said to be more than 3000 of these prehistoric buildings 

 in the island. They are almost all in fertile districts, and 

 are built in groups which are separated from one another 

 by wide and generally barren spaces. According to many 

 archffiologists, the Nurhagi were tombs ; but the late Canon 

 Spano, in his " Memoria sopra i Nurhagi di Sardegna," 

 published in 1854, contended that they were dwellings and 

 places of refuge, and this view is accepted by Dr. Ermling. 

 In a trench closed with asphalte, under the ruins of a Nurhage 

 near Teti, various bronze statuettes, swords, spear-heads, and 

 axes were discovered lately by shepherds. These treasures are 

 now in the museum of M. Gouin, a Frenchman, in Cagliari. 

 Some of the objects have been analyzed, and it has been found 

 that the chemical composition of the bronze statuettes is not the 



