414 



KNOWLEDGE. 



October. 1910. 



At Balmoral the lowest recorded was 44 , while in the 

 Channel Islands the lowest was 57°. The lowest tenipcratnrc 

 on the Krass reported was J 5° at Sheffield. 



At WicU the temperature of the sea water was 54°, while at 

 Margate and at Eastbourne it ranged between 63° and 64°. 



At many stations the Rainfall was double the usual amount, 

 but in the E. and S.E. of England it was surprisingly light. 

 Thus at Yarmouth only 0'12 inch was registered, which is less 

 than one-fourth of the average. At Margate only O'lO inch 

 fell, the average being 0'45 inch. 



Scilly reported the most Sunshine, 62'3 hours ; the only 

 other stations registering 60 hours or upwards being 

 Falmouth (6T5 hours), and Newquay (60'2 hoiu's). 



Unseasonable conditions prevailed during the ne.xt week, 

 when it was not only wet, but dull and cold also. 



The highest shade temperatiu-e reported was 74° at Raunds 

 on the 'i4th. and at Guernsey on the 25th ; while at West 

 Linton, near Edinburgh, the minimum fell to 52." on the 23rd. 

 On the ground the night minimum fell to 30° at West Linton 

 and to 32= at Sheffield, and to 33° at Birmingham and Newton 

 Rigg. Rainfall was in excess generally, there being but few 

 stations where the amount was not above the average. 



At Scilly the total rainfall was 2'26-ins., or almost exactly 

 four times the average. At this station the amount of Bright 

 Sunshine fell to 39'3 hours as against 62'3 hours for the 

 previous week. 



The stations reporting most Sunshine were Jersey. 49'3 

 hours, and Guernsey 47'4 hours, and it is remarkable that the 

 next sunniest station was that furthest to the North, \iz : 

 Baltasound in Shetland, with 47'3 hours. 



The week ended September 3rd opened with unsettled 

 weather, which, however, improved in the latter part of the 

 week. Thunderstorms were reported on August 29th, 30th, 

 and 31st, and Snow was observed at Raunds on the 28th. 

 Temperature, though differing but little from the average, was 

 generally in defect. The highest reported was only 72°. The 

 maximum for the week in Guernsey was 55°, while at Sum- 

 burgh Head in the Shetlands. more than 700 miles further 

 North, 68° was reported. 



The lowest shade reading reported was 35°, but on the 

 ground, night frosts were recorded at Newton Rigg, Crathes, 

 and Balmoral. 



Rainfall was less than the average in England E., the 

 English Channel and in Ireland, but more elsewhere. The 

 excesses in many cases were large ; thus, at Bath 2'98 inches 

 fell, the avera.ge for the week being only 0'60 inch. 



Bright Sunshine was again in defect nearly e\er>'where. 

 The highest amounts reported were at Lowestoft (44' 1 hours! 

 and Yarmouth (42'8 hours). On the South Coast. Eastbourne 

 had the largest amount (4 17 hours), while in the West no 

 station reported as much as 40 hours, and Newquay had only 

 28'9 hours. 



On August 28th. a kite was sent up by Mr. S. 11. K.Salmon, 

 at Bri.ghton, with a meteorograph attached, which attained 

 the height of 5,550 feet. The kite was 7 square metres in 

 area and the length of wire was about Ij miles. The 

 Humidity which was 88% at ground level fell to 58% at 

 3,300 feet, but rose again and was 98% at the maximum 

 altitude. 



SOUTH PORT METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY. 

 — One of the best equipped of the many meteorological 

 establishments maintained by Local Authorities in the British 

 Islands is that at the Fernley Observatory, where Mr. J. 

 Baxendell, F.R.Met.Soc, for the Southport Corporation, is in 

 charge of a complete outfit of instruments, of which he makes 

 very excellent use. 



The Report for 1909 tells of steady and careful wi>rk, 

 resulting not only in the accumulation of reliable Statistics 

 of the Climate of the popular Lancashire resort, but also in 

 material th.it is often of great use in purely scientific 

 investigations. 



The frontispiece to the Report is a reproduction of part of 

 the barograph record for December 28-29, 1909, showing a 

 very remarkable series of small oscillations of pressure during 

 the advance of an anti-cyclonic ridge from the Westward. 



The Report includes a useful Table of Statistics for 190-) 

 from a large number of Stations, from which it appears that 

 Southport enjoyed 1,611 hours of Bright Sunshine in 1909, as 

 against only 999 hours at Manchester, and 985 hours at Hull. 



RAINFALL IN AUSTRALIA.— The ComnionweaUh of 

 Australia has recently issued two interesting Bulletins which 

 are worthy the attention of many besides those who are 

 directly concerned with agriculture. These Bulletins have 

 been compiled under the direction of Mr. H. A. Hunt, the 

 Commonwealth Meteorologist, who in the first deals with the 

 remarkable flood rains experienced in Victoria in August. 1909, 

 and in the second treats of the monthly distribution of Rain- 

 fall over the whole Continent. 



The floods referred to accompanied the passage of a deep 

 depression which ad\anced from the Westward across the 

 South-Eastern parts of Australia, and brought with it very 

 heavv rain which averaged, over a wide area, between 

 3 inches and 4 inches in less than twenty-four hours. 



The river Wimmera has a catchment area of about 1,900 

 square miles, and it is estimated that nearly 400 millions of tons 

 of rain fell on this land in nineteen hours, giving rise to the 

 heaviest flood that had been known for many years. 



The conservation of the Rainfall is one of the most pressing 

 of the problems that confront the Commonwealth Authorities, 

 for not onlv do floods such as those referred to in this Bulletin 

 cause an immense amount of damage, but the water that runs 

 a« av is badly wanted later on for irrigation and other indus- 

 trial purposes. 



INTERNATIONAL METEOROLOGICAL 

 COMMITTEE. — A Meeting of the International 

 Meteorological Committee was arranged to be held in 

 Berlin at the end of September. This Committee comprises 

 seventeen members, most of whom are Directors of Meteoro- 

 logical Offices in the various countries they represent. Dr. 

 W. N. Shaw, the Director of the Meteorological Office, 

 London, is Chairman of the Committee, and Professor G. 

 Hellmann, Director of the Prussian Meteorological Service, is 

 Secretary. 



The Committee last met in Paris, in 1907, when certain 

 Commissions, or Snb-Connnittees, were appointed to consider 

 \arious questions. Two of these Commissions met in 

 London, in June of last year, and their recommendations on 

 the subject of Weather Telegraphy, and of Weather Signalling 

 for Sailors, will come up for consideration, as will also other 

 important (juestions bearing on various branches of the 

 Science. The Report of the proceedings at the Meeting is 

 sure to be of much interest. 



It is somewhat remarkable that since the Paris Meeting the 

 Committee has lost three of its members by death, namely. 

 Professor J. M. Pernter, Director of the Austrian Meteorological 

 Service ; Mons. A. Lancaster, Director of the Belgian 

 Meteorological Service; and Sir John Eliot, late Director- 

 General of Indian ( )bservatories. 



MICROSCOPY. 



By A. \V. SHKPP.'iRD, F.R.M.S., 



with the assistance of the folloicing iiiicroscopists : — 



.\iriHLRC. CAN] III 11 Arthur Earland. 



Iames BiR'roN. Richard T. Lewis. F.R.M.S. 



The Rev. E. \V. K.iwell, M.A. Chas. F. Rousselet. F.R.M.S. 



Charles H. Caffvn. D. J. Scoirfield, F Z.S., F.R.M.S. 



C. I). Scar, F.R.M.S 



A SIMPLE METHOD OF MAKING DIFFICULT 

 MATERIAL SINK IN FIXATIVES.— It frequently happens 

 to be an extremely difficult matter to cause certain material 

 to sink in the particular fluid required to be used for its 

 fixation. Botanical specimens, such as anthers, spore-bearing 

 leaves of ferns, and similar plant tissue are constantly 

 among this class, as well as lung mucus, and some epithelial 

 tissue of different animals. 



Unless able to succeed in keeping such objects totally 

 immersed instead of floating on the surface of the fixing fluid, 

 the fixation is very imperfect and tmequal. 



