[ULY lO, 19 1 3] 



NATURE 



489 



in some parts they may be referred to the Tertiary 

 period, and also the subsidence, at least of the western 

 part of the basin, is probably of the same age. Mr. 

 A. M. Nikolski has connected Balkhash with the 

 Han-hai, not with the Turkestan basin, believing that 

 the Han-hai with Balkhash was isolated before the 

 separation of the Aralo-Caspian sea from the Siberian, 

 and certainly no Aralo-Caspian deposits occur for 

 some distance west of Balkhash. Marks of high 

 water are found on the north-west of the lake 100 ft. 

 above the present level, and therefore the lake must 

 at one time have covered a large area to the south 

 and east. According to Golubief, the lakes Sasyk- 

 kul, Uyali, and Ala-kul formed one lake within the 

 memory of man, and the difference of level between 

 Ala-kul and Ebi-nor is only 25 ft. During last 

 century there was a long period of desiccation, but 

 for the last twenty years the lake has been rising. 

 The water of the western part of the lake, into 

 which the Hi pours considerable volumes, is 

 quite sweet, but it is brackish in the small bays and 

 channels. 



Floral Regions of Siberia. — In the Bulletin of the 

 Imp. Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg, No. 14, 

 1912, Mr. N. I. Kuznetsof proposes a division of 

 Siberia into floral regions, after discussing those of 

 Ledebour, Korzhinski, and Tanfilyef. A line following 

 tli. watershed between the Yenesei and Lena, approxi- 

 mately coinciding with geological and climatic boun- 

 daries, prolonged northwards to the watershed be- 

 tween the Khatanga and Anabara, and southwards 

 to the mountains at the southern end of Lake Baikal, 

 divides the principal regions into eastern and western 

 parts. In the western section of the forest area 

 arboreal species of the Altaic or western Mongolian 

 centre prevail, in the eastern those of the Manchurian 

 centre. Beyond the limit of arboreal vegetation deter- 

 mined by Siberian travellers, notably Middendorff, is 

 the Arctic zone, its eastern part characterised by 

 species and even families common to the Arctic re- 

 gions and America, and also by representatives of the 

 Alpine flora of the Stanovoi and Verkhoiansk ranges. 

 Kamchatka and the Okhotsk coast down to the north 

 of Sakhalin constitute a separate division, in which 

 Altaic forms, are absent, and peculiar species of trees, 

 Picea ajanensis, Abies nephrolepis, and Betida 

 Ermanni, occur. Foliage trees are seldom found in 

 Siberia except in the Amur district, where Tertiary 

 forms exist which perished in other parts of Siberia 

 during' the cold period contemporaneous with the Ice 

 Age of Europe. The Alpine region is confined to 

 islands and bare summits amidst the sea of coniferous 

 forests, in the Verkhoiansk and other ranges. East 

 of Lake Baikal Pinus pumila occurs, species which 

 thrive on rocky peaks are few, and the flora passes 

 at the north-eastern extremity of the Yablonovoi range 

 into the Arctic flora. Lastly, there are two areas of 

 steppe-lands, one in the west between the southern 

 limit of the taiga, and the watershed between the 

 Arctic ocean and the Aralo-Caspian depression, the 

 other embracing the basins of the Shilka, Argun, and 

 the Upper Amur, as far as Albazin. 



Natives of Siberia. — According to Mr. S. Patkanof 

 (Zapiski of the Imp. Russ. Geogr. Soc, Statistical 

 Section, vol. xi., No. 1), the natives of Siberia number 

 870,5^6, of whom 442,45c, are males. This sex gener- 

 ally preponderates, except in a few small tribes. The 

 most numerous are the Buriats, who number 288,599. 

 As regards governments, Yakutsk contains the largest 

 number of natives, namely 235,623, and thev consti- 

 tute 87*5 per cent, of the total population. In Trans- 

 baikalia and Irkutsk they are also numerous, while 

 they are few in the Amur province. There are, how- 

 ever, districts of Siberia where the natives are almost 

 XO. 2280. VOL. qi] 



all the population. The other inhabitants of Siberia, 

 chiefly Russians, number 4,880,633, so that the natives 

 constitute only about 15 per cent, of the total popu- 

 lation. 



METEOROLOGICAL REPORTS A .V 1 > 

 SUMMARIES. 

 A USEFUL discussion of the cloudiness and sun- 

 ** shine of North America, by Mr. A. Glaser, is 

 contained in Aits dem Archiv der Deutschen See- 

 ■warte, vol. xxxv., No. 1, based on published data 

 from available sources. The subject is treated in 

 considerable detail as regards time and place, and is 

 illustrated by copious tables and diagrams. The few 

 following points may be mentioned among the general 

 features referred to. In the westward districts 

 westerly winds bring most cloud, clear sky in summer 

 being due to the higher saturation point of the air. 

 Eastward of the Rocky Mountains the sky is clearer, 

 but with northerly and southerly winds the spring 

 is the most cloudy season. The winter barometrical 

 minimum in the North Atlantic causes easterly 

 winds in the eastern States, and these, mix- 

 ing with the relatively warm air of the coast, 

 produce a large amount of cloud. The high 

 pressure in the south-east in autumn causes clear 

 weather ; in the south the greatest clearness occurs 

 towards the end of winter. In the south-west of the 

 United States and western Mexico the warm winds 

 of the Gulf of California cause much cloud in summer ; 

 the clearest season is spring, and the dry northerlv 

 winds of the northern portions bring clear weather 

 in autumn. The most bright sunshine is found in the 

 south-west of the continent, and the least in the north- 

 west and north-east, where the sun's power is natur- 

 ally much weaker. In the region east of the Rocky 

 Mountains there is comparatively little change in pro- 

 ceeding from south to north. 



The Rev. L. Froc, S.J. (director of the Zi-ka-wei 

 Observatory, near Shanghai), has issued the first part 

 of a useful discussion of the rainfall in China during 

 eleven years, 1900-10; the paper also includes data 

 for a number of stations for shorter periods. Full 

 particulars are given respecting the geographical posi- 

 tion and surroundings of each station. In addition 

 to the sums for individual months and years, and 

 means for seasons and for the whole period, interest- 

 ing details are given with reference to the variability 

 of rainfall and unusual falls in the yearly, monthly, 

 and daily periods, but the general discussion of the 

 data and preparation of a rainfall map are reserved 

 for the second part of the paper, to be published later 

 on. It is remarked that the rainfall is not so excessive 

 as in some neighbouring countries, e.g. the Philippine 

 Archipelago. The following' are among the heaviest 

 of the yearly falls : — Hongkong, 2473 mm., in 1902 ; 

 Fouchow, 2572 mm., in 1906; Sanchoei, 2760 mm., in 

 1007; Pakhoi, 2601 mm., in 1908; all in the south-east 

 of China. The greatest daily fall was 320 mm. 

 (126 in.) at Pakhoi. The diagrams show that in all 

 districts the greatest rainfall occurs during the summer 

 half-year. 



The Commonwealth Central Weather Bureau has 

 issued an average rainfall map of Tasmania, the fifth 

 of the series showing the annual rainfall distribution 

 of Australia. The most striking feature of the map 

 is the great variation between the greatest and least 

 average falls, viz. 17-9 in. at Beaufront, in the midland 

 district, and 115-8 in. at Mt. Lyell, on the west coast. 

 This coast is exposed to the moist westerly winds, and 

 condensation is favoured by phvsiographic conditions, 

 the result being a mean annual fall of 8S7 in. for the 

 whole district generally. On the east coast the annual 



