JuNB 23, 1899. ] 



iiCIENCE. 



879 



ence in the case of Lake Superior being about 

 eight inches, while the average precipitation on 

 the south shores of Lalces Erie and Ontario is 

 about three inches greater than that on the 

 north shores. The eastern shores of Lakes 

 Michigan and Huron have a greater precipita- 

 tion than the western, but the differences are 

 not so strongly marked as between the northern 

 and southern shores of the other lakes. The 

 annual precipitation is somewhat less over the 

 northern peninsula of Michigan as compared 

 with the immediate shore line, and the precipi- 

 tation over the interior of the northern portion 

 of the lower peninsula is considerably less than 

 on the shores of the lakes on either side. 



REPORT OF THE CHIEF OF THE WEATHER 

 BUREAU. 



The Report of the Chief of the Weather Bureau 

 for 1897-9S is an unusually interesting volume. 

 We n«te that Section I., which deals with New 

 Work and Special Investigations, includes an ac- 

 count of the kite work, illustrated by repro- 

 ductions of a considerable number of kite me- 

 teorograph curves. Deaths by lightning dur- 

 ing the year 1897 are reported as reaching 362, 

 which is the largest number in any single year 

 since a record has been kept. The number of 

 deaths due to violent storms was 55. Part VII. 

 contains The Climate of Cuba, by W. F. R. Phil- 

 lips, a somewhat fuller account than that pub- 

 lished in Bulletin No. 22 (see Science, July 1, 

 1898, p. 16); Temperature, Rainfall and Humidity 

 at San Juan, Porto Rico, and The Weather of 

 Manila, both by W. F. R. Phillips. The 

 latter account was contained in Bulletin No. 

 22. Two papers by Professor H. A. Hazen, 

 one on Meteorologic Waves and one on The Dis- 

 tribution of Moisture in the United States, both 

 well illustrated, close the volume. 



JAMAICA WEATHER SERVICE. 



Owing to the withdrawal, by the govern- 

 ment, of the annual subsidy, the Jamaica 

 Weather Service came to an end on April 1st 

 of this year. This service was established in 

 1880, and has done valuable work in furnishing 

 warnings of coming hurricanes, as well as in 

 carrying on and publishing investigations of 

 hurricanes, rainfall, damage by lightning, etc. 



Mr. Maxwell Hall has been in charge of the 

 Jamaica Weather Service from the start, and 

 has had the able assistance of Mr. Robert John- 

 stone, as observer in charge at Kingston. The 

 announcement is now made that Mr. John- 

 stone's services must be dispensed with, and 

 that the tirst-class station at Kingston and the 

 second-class station at Montego Bay must be 

 discontinued. 



NEW DAILY WEATHER MAPS. 



The Monthly Weather Review for March notes 

 the issue of two new daily weather maps, one 

 in Canada and the other in Mexico. In the 

 summer of 1898 the Canadian Meteorological 

 Service established a Pacific Coast Division with 

 headquarters at Victoria, B. C. An inter- 

 change of daily telegraphic reports takes place 

 between our own Weather Bureau and that of 

 Canada, so that the information available to one 

 is also accessible to the other. It is expected 

 that daily maps and forecasts will be issued by 

 the Pacific Coast Division of the Canadian 

 Weather Service similar to those now issued by 

 the U. S. Weather Bureau at San Francisco 

 and at Portland, Ore. On March 1, 1899, the 

 Republic of Mexico began the publication of a 

 daily weather map, 12 by 16 inches in size, the 

 observations being made at 8 a. m., 75th merid- 

 ian time. The map makes possible an imme- 

 diate connection with the daily maps of the 

 United States and of Canada. 



WINTER TEMPERATURES AT DAWSON CITY. 



The Monthly Weather Revieiv for March also 

 contains a summary of some meteorological 

 observations made at Dawson City during 

 November and December, 1898, and January, 

 1899, by U. G. Myers, Observer, Weather 

 Bureau. The maximum in November was 23.3°; 

 the minimum, -41.4°. In December the maxi- 

 mum was 38.0° and the minimum — 41.0°. 

 In January the maximum and minimum were 

 2.0° and — 45.0°, respectively. 



RECENT PUBLICATIONS. 



The Use of Kites in the Exploration of the Upper 

 Air. C. F. Marvin, Professor of Meteor 

 ology, U. S. Weather Bureau. Year-book of 



