January 28, 1898.] 



SCIENCE. 



135 



ascent as the sun comes more nearly over this 

 parallel of latitude. There is a common belief 

 at Casapalca that there is less snowfall at that 

 town than in former years, and a greater num- 

 ber of huaicos, but this, if true, is undoubtedly 

 only another case of a periodic change in climatic 

 conditions, which may last a few years and will 

 then be followed by some years of the reversed 

 conditions. 



Mention has been made of the change from 

 the sugar and cotton belt to the fruit belt. In 

 ascending the valley from San Bartholom6 the 

 fruit district is soon left behind, and the San 

 Mateo (10,534 ft.) is the center of a region 

 singularly adapted to the growth of potatoes. 

 Here the mountain sides are covered with ter- 

 races, most of them built in very ancient times, 

 and potatoes are grown to considerable altitudes 

 above the vallej' bottom. The increasing rain- 

 fall in this region results in a considerable 

 growth of grass and some low shrubs on the 

 mountain sides, whereas nearer the sea level, as 

 above noted, the slopes are bare, and farther up 

 the snow lies on the mountain summits through- 

 out the year. On his journey over the Oroya 

 the writer encountered the first rain noted dur- 

 ing the trip at 3 p. m., at an altitude of about 

 13,000 feet above sea level, and another shower 

 came at 4 p. m., at an altitude of over 14,000 

 feet. 



At the Galera Tunnel, 15,665 feet, the highest 

 point reached by any railroad in the world, con- 

 siderable snow fields were seen at about the 

 same height above the sea as that of the tunnel, 

 and isolated patches of snow were met with 

 somewhat below that elevation. At this point 

 any cultivation of the ground is, of course, out 

 of the question. From the Galera the descent 

 is rapid down the grass-covered slopes of the 

 mountain into the valley in which Oroya is 

 situated, and here again we reach a climatic 

 zone where it is possible to raise potatoes and 

 other farm products. One can thus travel by 

 the Oroya Railway from fields of sugar-cane and 

 cotton, through a belt where fruit grows most 

 luxuriantly, and up higher to a district famous 

 for its potatoes, until, after winding around 

 slopes and through tunnels, at an altitude where 

 nothing but grass grows, the snow line is 

 reached, and a descent is made to a region 



where the rigorous climate of 16,000 feet is re- 

 placed by those more genial conditions which 

 favor the raising of crops. This whole succes- 

 sion of climates can be passed through in the 

 short space of ten hours, and it is this feature 

 of the Oroya road which it seems to the writer 

 has not been sufficiently emphasized. The cli- 

 matic lesson which such a trip teaches is one 

 which is well worth learning, even at the risk 

 of a touch of soroche, or mountain sickness, 

 which comparatively few persons escape at the 

 highest part of the road. 



A rather interesting industry, which was dis- 

 tinctly the result of climatic conditions, was at- 

 tempted a few years ago in connection with the 

 snow fields on the mountains above Lima. The 

 presence of these large masses of snow and ice 

 in close proximity to the railroad led to the 

 adoption of a scheme to transport these prod- 

 ucts of the climate to Lima, where they were 

 to be sold to the inhabitants as ice is sold in our 

 own country. A beginning was made, and some 

 ice was thus taken to the city, but there were 

 certain legal and pecuniary complications in the 

 way, and the enterprise had to be abandoned. 

 A reminder of this unsuccessful venture is still 

 to be seen on the list of freight rates from Oroya 

 to Lima, posted at the railway station in Oroya. 

 On this list, together with the rates for the 

 transportation of freight of various kinds, the 

 traveller may see how much it costs to send 

 snotv from Oroyo to the capital. In Quito the 

 sale of snow and ice brought to the city by the 

 Indians from the high mountains in the vicinity 

 furnishes a similar illustration of the climatic 

 control over human occupations, one of the 

 most important, as it is one of the most strik- 

 ing, subdivisions of the subject of anthropo- 

 climatology. 



The climatic contrasts which are exhibited 

 along the Oroya afford an excellent illustration 

 of the variety of climates found in Peru by 

 reason of its high mountains and its geograph- 

 ical position. We learn from Prescott that the 

 Incas were well aware of the differences in the 

 climates of various parts of Peru, and that they 

 were careful to study the climatic conditions to 

 which the tribes they conquered had been ac- 

 customed. In transferring, as was often their 

 custom, newly-conquered subjects from their 



