ME ee 
The relative humidity is given by Ficker, from a yearly 
average for all the stations, as 61 per ct. In Table 1 will be 
found the averages for each month at 3 different times of 
the day. It must be remembered, however, that these figures 
are taken on an oasis where the degree of saturation must 
be greater than in the desert. OLUFSEN records (1901 pp. 12—13) 
from various places (Merw, Buchara, Kona Urgentsh) relative 
humidities of 13—19 per ct. 
On account of the heat and dryness in Transcaspia 
during summer it is natural that evaporation must be very 
great. According to SEMENOw (p. 128) evaporation is 3 times 
greater than precipitation in Tashkent and Samarkand, 4 times 
in Ferghana, 24 times in Nukus, and 270 times in Petro 
Alexandrowsk. Nukus and Petro Alexandrowsk lie south of 
the Aral Sea not far apart, and obviously local influences 
have to be reckoned with here. 
The figures in Table 2 show the amount of evaporation 
and its relation to precipitation. For the daily evaporation 
per month we find amongst others a table in MusHKETOW 
p. 508 taken from STELLING, and another in SCHWARZ p. 572. 
As a result of the evaporation being much greater than 
the precipitation, the country is becoming drier and drier. 
SCHWARZ (p. 578) proves that the Syr Darya, the Aral Sea 
and other lakes are continually decreasing. According 
to some calculations the Aral Sea sinks 7 metres, according 
to others 4,2 metres in the course of a century, and SCHWARZ 
is of opinion that Turkestan is in process of being irretriev- 
ably ruined on account of scarcity of water. Buchara is 
already on the verge of ruin because Samarkand, which lies 
higher up the Serafshan river, uses all the water available. 
Borszczow is also of opinion that the drying up of Trans- 
caspia is increasing, while BAER has come to the conclusion 
that there is now a condition of balance. As regards the 
Aral Sea, BERG points out (1908 p. 374), that the water-level 
is changing, and that at the present time it is rising after a 
minimum in 1880. 
Comments on Table 1. This table gives meteorological 
data from three stations: Tashkent (comparatively cold and 
