.36 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. II., No. 23. 



it advanced into Ohio. At the morning obser- 

 vation of this date, pressures .5 to .6 inch below 

 the mean were noted in Iowa. 



Reports of hail on the 13th, 14th, and loth, 

 sometimes of astonishing size, have been sent 

 from thirty-six stations, mostly' in Iowa, Kan- 

 sas, Missouri, Indiana, and Illinois. The 

 following is a brief summary of tornado reports. 

 Indiana: Amity, 14th, 7.30 p.m.; Waterloo, 

 night of 14th, only three houses left standing ; 

 Muncie, night of 14th ; Indianapolis, 14th, 6 

 P.M. In Kansas : Troy, 13th, 5 p.m. ; Muncie, 

 13th, 4.30 P.M., most violent storm ever known 

 in the countj-. In Michigan : White Pigeon, 

 14th, 4 P.M. ; Sturgis, 14th, 3.30 p.m., came 

 from south-east. In Missouri : Kansas City, 

 13th, 4.30 P.M., from south-west, track from a 

 hundred and fiftj- to two hundred and fifty 

 yards wide, damage $300,000 ; Cameron, 13th, 

 5 P.M. ; Macon, 13th, 8 p.m. ; Pattonsburg, 

 13th, 5 P.M. In Ohio : Frederickstown, 14th, 

 afternoon. 



The second period was ushered in by a deep 

 ' low ' in Colorado on the 17th. At 11 p.m., 

 Washington time, pressures at Yankton and 

 North Platte were 29.16 inches, or more than 

 .7 inch below the mean. On the 18th the ' low ' 

 moved into Minnesota, and on the 20th a por- 

 tion of it moved east into the St. Lawrence 

 vallej- ; while its influence was felt in forming 

 a second subsidiary ' low ' in western Tennes- 

 see on the same date. The latter moved slow- 

 ly, and passed off the Atlantic coast on the 

 24th. Tornadoes are reported as follows. In 

 Arkansas: Eureka Springs, 18th; it cut a 

 path a quarter of a mile wide through a dense 

 forest, and destroyed several buildings. In 

 Illinois: Ilillsboro' , 18th, 10 p.m., a funnel- 

 shaped cloud moving north-east, the width of 

 destruction, ten to thirty rods ; Grafton, a car 

 loaded with stone weighing twentj'-one tons 

 was lifted from the track, and the stones were 

 scattered ; Chemung, 18th, before 6 p.m. ; 

 Chicago, night of 18th; Springfield, 18th, 

 7.10 p.m. ; Pesotum, 18th, 11.30 p.m. ; Little- 

 berry was nearly destroj-ed ; Jacksonville, 18th 

 evening, severest storm ever known ; Edwards- 

 ville, 18th evening, came from south-east, width 

 of track six hundred to eight hundred feet ; 

 Tallula, 18th, 9 p.m. Up to midnight of 19th, 

 the number of deaths in Illinois caused by the 

 tornadoes of this date was sixty- three. In 

 Missouri: Moody, 18th, 19th, evttry house 

 blown down ; Berger, 18th, 7 p.m., six houses 

 and one mill destroyed ; Oronogo, 18th, 7.40 

 P.M., six persons killed, $75,000 damage. 

 New York : 21st, one of the severest storms 

 that ever visited Long Island. In Tennessee : 



Chattanooga, 20th, 4 p.m. In Wisconsin : 

 Janesville, 18th evening ; Racine, 18th, 7 p.m., 

 twentj'-five people killed, damage $60,000, 

 track five hundred yards wide. 



The chart of monthly isobars, isotherms, and 

 wind-directions is given on p. 35. The per- 

 manent summer low-pressure area has en- 

 larged a little, and moved only slightly from its 

 position last month. Mean pressures are in 

 general below the normal, except in Florida 

 and the upper Missouri vallej'. The mean 

 temperature east of the 100th meridian was 

 3.1° below the mean; highest temperature, 

 109° at Eagle Pass, Tex., and Yuma, Cal. 

 Illinois and Missouri report damaging frosts 

 on the 22d. 



A comparison of floating ice with May, 1882, 

 shows the eastern limit 3° west of last May, but 

 the southern limit is the same. The number 

 and size of icebergs are much less than last year, 

 while there has been no field-ice. The Crulf of 

 St. Lawrence, blocked last year, is clear this. 



There were deficiencies in rainfall : Middle 

 Atlantic, .58 inch; West Gulf, 1.50; Rio 

 Grande valle}-, 2.93 ; extreme north-west, 

 1.65 ; and middle plateau, .69. Excesses : New 

 England, 1.41 ; South Atlantic, 2.91 ; Tennes- 

 see, .54 ; Ohio vallej', .77 ; lower lakes, 3.02 ; 

 upper lakes, .85 ; upper Mississippi valley, 

 .68 ; Missouri valley, 3.03 ; middle slope, 1.09 ; 

 southern slope, 1.91; northern plateau, .99; 

 North Pacific coast, .86; Middle Pacific coast, 

 2.33 ; and Southern Pacific coast, .80. In 

 California the rain has been four times the 

 usual Maj' fall. 



A hundred and thirty-nine cautionary sig- 

 nals were displayed, of which 84% were justi- 

 fied by winds of 25 miles or more per hour, at 

 or within 100 miles of the station. 



SYMMETRICAL LINEAR FIGURES PRO- 

 DUCED BY REFLECTION ALONG A 

 RIVER-BANK. 



In Jul}', 1882, I noticed on the Magaguida- 

 vic River, in New Brunswick, some figures, 

 apparently' formed through combination of 

 actual fissures in the rocks at the water's edge, 

 and the reflections of these fissures from the 

 surface of the water, which were not a little 

 remarkable. 



It was late in the afternoon. One thunder- 

 shower had just ceased, and another was about 

 to begin. The sky was somewhat overcast, 

 and the water more or less shaded by the forest 

 which covers most of the adjacent land. The 

 banks of the river are bold, the shore being lined 

 in many places with steep rocks having abrupt 



