■658 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. IX. No. 227. 



froze on decks and rigging, had resulted in 

 keeping many vessels in port. In consequence, 

 but few lives were lost at sea. 



Bulletin No. 3, by S. P. Fergusson, is en- 

 titled Progress of Experiments with Kites during 

 1S97-9S at Blue Hill Observatory, and presents 

 an admirable summary of this work. Both 

 Bulletins are abundantly illustrated. 



SNOW ROLLERS. 



The March number of Climate and Crops : 

 New England Section notes the occurrence of 

 'Snow Kollers ' at Grafton, N. H., on March 

 16th, last. This is an interesting but compara- 

 tively rare phenomenon, occasionally observed 

 in the winter season when freshly fallen snow 

 is rolled into balls or cylinders by the wind. 

 At Grafton these are stated to have been rolled 

 up in countless numbers. Some of the rollers 

 were as large as a barrel, and the fields and 

 hills were covered with them. Other occur- 

 rences of the same phenomenon have been 

 noted, within recent years, at Spokane, Wash., 

 in December, 1895; at Hartford, Conn., on Feb- 

 ruary 19, 1896, and in Saline county, Kan., on 

 January 14, 1898. At Spokane there were 

 ' hundreds of snow cylinders of uniform size, 

 and as perfectly formed as though they had 

 been cast in a mould.' The rollers were from 

 12 to 16 inches long, and from 6 to 10 inches in 

 diameter. At Hartford some of the rollers 

 measured 8 inches in diameter. In the Kansas 

 case the size varied from that of base-balls to 

 that of half-a-bushel measures. The uniform 

 size, often noted, may be explained by the fact 

 that the wind rolls the cylinders of snow along 

 the ground until they become too heavy to be 

 moved farther. If the velocity of the wind 

 continues about the same it is likely, other 

 things being equal, that the rollers will have 

 about the same size. 



A COURSE IN METEOROLOGY AT OHIO STATE 

 UNIVERSITY. 



It is a pleasure to note the establishment of a 

 new course in meteorology at the Ohio State 

 University, Columbus, Ohio. This course, 

 which is being given by Mr. J. Warren Smith, 

 Section Director of the U. S. Weather Bureau 

 at Columbus, is required in the junior year in 



the course in agriculture and horticulture, and 

 is elective in the courses in arts, philosophy and 

 science. It is also open to all teachers. Lectures 

 began on March 29th, andare given twicea week 

 during a term of ten weeks. The object of the 

 course, as stated in the prospectus, is ' to open 

 and outline a rational and systematic line of 

 study of the leading facts concerning our atmos- 

 phere, and of the methods of observing and in- 

 vestigating the daily weather changes, and of 

 the physical laws underlying these changes.' 

 Davis's ' Elementary Meteorology ' is used as a 

 text- book. The lectures are illustrated by means 

 of lantern views, and the ' laboratory work ' in- 

 cludes the use of the ordinary instruments and 

 practice in the construction of weather maps. 



CLIMATE OF THE CONGO FREE STATE. 



There has recently been published an admi- 

 rable little pamphlet on the climate of the Congo 

 Free State, by M. Lancaster, Director of the 

 Meteorological Service of Belgium {Court Apergu 

 da Climat du Congo, 12mo., Brussels, 1899, pp. 

 43). This is a summary, in a very convenient 

 form, of the meteorological portion of the 

 volume ou the climate, soils and hygiene of the 

 Congo Free State, noticed in Science for Jan- 

 uary 13, 1899, p. 72, and is reprinted from the 

 Annuaire de V Ohservatoire royal de Belgique pour 

 1899. 



R. DeC. Ward. 



Harvard University 



A NEW MARINE BIOLOGICAL LABOBATOBY. 



American biologists will doubtless be grati- 

 fied to learn that the United States Fish Com- 

 mission will maintain a marine biological labo- 

 ratory at Beaufort, N. C, during the coming 

 summer, and will probably undertake to estab- 

 lish a permanent laboratory at that place. The 

 station will be fully equipped for a limited 

 number of investigators and be ready for occu- 

 pancy by June 1st. There will be one building 

 devoted to laboratory purposes and another af- 

 fording sleeping accommodations. 



Dr. H. V. Wilson, professor of biology in the 

 University of North Carolina, has been asked 

 to become the director of the laboratory. Dr. 

 Wilson was associated with the Commission at 

 its Woods Holl laboratory for several years 



