662 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol.. II., No. 41. 



or origination, and never one that can be shown to 

 be of later birth? Surely these peculiarities cannot 

 be accounted for on the doctrine of a fortuitous migra- 

 tion. N"or can it be claimed, that, through the inter- 

 action of the evolutionary forces, a migrating fauna 

 with an early-life facies will iu each case, at the j^oint 

 of its arrest, have assumed the character of the later- 

 day fauna which belongs to that position. Therefore 

 it appears inexplicable that a very great period of 

 time could have intervened between the deposition of 

 the fauna of one great geological epoch at one locality, 

 and that of the same or similar fauna at another lo- 

 cality distantly removed from the first. In other 

 words, the migrations — for such must undoubtedly 

 have been the means of the distant propagation of 

 identical or very closely related life-forms {unless we 

 admit I he seemingly untenable hypothesis that equiv- 

 alent life-forms may have been very largely developed 

 from independent and very dissimilar lines of ances- 

 try) — must have been much more rapidly performed 

 than has generally been admitted. What applies to 

 the broader divisions of the geological scale also ap- 

 plies to the minor. Thus the subordinate groups of 

 a formation are almost as definitely marked ofi in the 

 same order, the world over, as are the formations 

 themselves. After breaks in formations, tlie appear- 

 ance of characteristic fossils is largely the same; 

 whereas, on the theory of synchronism of distinct 

 faunas, such a succession would certainly not be con- 

 stant. The oijinion held by the older geologists was 

 therefore probably correct; namely, that formations 

 ■characterized by the same or very nearly related 

 faunas in widely separated regions belong, in very 

 moderate limits, to approximately tlie same actual 

 ■age, and are to all intents and purposes synchro- 

 nous or contemporaneou.s. — {Acad. nat. sc. Philad.; 

 meetinff Oct. 2, ISSB.) [362 



METEOBOLOGY. 



Tornado studies. — A study of the tornado of 

 June 7, 1882, in the valley of Siiby, Ikis been made 

 by Fineman. It embraces investigations upon the 

 ■coui'se of this tornado, and the accompanying atmos- 

 pheric conditions, wliich are not difierent from those 

 pointed out by Fiuley in the case of tornadoes in the 

 United States, and includes a general investigation 

 of the theory of tornadoes, with references to the 

 work of other authors in this field of inquiry. The 

 author refers to tlie combination of great humidity, 

 high temperature, and absence of wind, as the special 

 •condition of tornado formation, and investigates the 

 characteristic plienoraena shown in its progress. He 

 further discusses the relation of tornadoes ajid thun- 

 der-storms, and urges increased study in solar radia- 

 tion and the gyratory motion of fluids, in order to 

 throw light upon this and other meteorological inves- 

 tigations.— (Sue (a Tronitie, June 7.) w. u. [363 



Notes. — The annual re-union of llie council of 

 the meteorological bureau of France was held in 

 March. The leading discussions related to observa- 

 tions in .agricultural meteorology, the securing of re- 

 ports of thunder-storms and rainfall statistics, and 

 the transmission of telegraphic messages in the in- 



terest of the science (Ann. soc. met., Marcli, 1SS.3). 



A v.aluable contribution to our knowledge of the 



surface- temperatures of the Atlantic along the coasts 

 of Portugal, Senegambia, and Brazil, has been made 

 by M. Ilautreux from the observations taken on the 

 steamers which tr.averse this region {Ann. hydr., viii. 

 1SS3). The Zeitschrift for August contains a num- 

 ber of climatological articles, discussing observations 

 made at Stuttgart, Fr.inkfort, Lyons, I'uebla, Quada- 



lajara, and in southern Brazil., The Annuiiirc (oT 



May contains a contribution to the stu ly of the cli- 

 mate of central Africa, by M. Angot, from observa- 

 tions, which are rather fragmentary, made at three 



missionary stations, mostly in ISSl. Itev. Clement 



Ley is preparing a work upon the observation of 

 clouds. The international committee, at its meeting 

 in 1882, appointed a committee, consisting of Messrs. 

 de Brito Capello, Clement Ley, and Hildebrandsson, 

 to draw up a scheme of instructions for the obser- 

 vation of cirrus-clouds. Dr. Selah Merrill, U.S. 



consul at Jerusalem, has submitted to the State de- 

 partment a report upon the clim.ate of Palestine, 

 based upon observations covering a period of twenty- 

 two years. An extract is published in the August 

 Weather review of the signal-oiEce. — w. w. [364 



GEOGRAPHY. 



(Aiciic.) 

 Arctic notes. — The Austrian Jan Mayen expedi- 

 tion arrived at Vienna, Aug. 22, and were received 

 with public festivities. No illness had occurred dur- 

 ing their stay on the island. The observations taken 

 are satisfactory. Rich collections liave been made, 



and numerous photographs taken. The latest 



news from the English party under Capt. Dawson, at 

 Fort Eae in the North-west Territory, is favorable, 

 and observations were going on with regularity. 

 Spectroscopic observations of the aurora borealis 

 have been very satisfactory, though the phenomena 



have not been particularly brilliant. Satisfactory 



accounts have also been received of the work done 

 by the Swedish expedition to Spitzbergen, which has 

 returned without loss or accident. Reliable in- 

 formation has at last been received from the Schieffe- 

 lin party, on the Yukon, near its .iunction with the 

 Tananah Kiver. They have returned to San Fran- 

 cisco all well. Gold had been discovered twelve 

 miles up from its mouth, on a small river falling into 

 the Yukon. The bed-rock was slate, and the gold 

 found was in smooth washed particles In loose gravel. 

 Winter setting in prevented further search, and the 

 season was found to be too sliort for satisfactory 

 results in placer mining. Mr. Schiefl'elin warns 

 prospectors against coming rashly into the country, 

 unprovided with supplies and tools, as nothing 

 suitable for prosijecting work can be had there. 



Later reports from the Arctic Ocean north from 



Bering Strait give little improvement in the condi- 

 tions or catch of the whaling-fleet over previous 

 advices. The whalers were anticipating better luck 



toward the end of the se.ason. A button and coin 



obtained at Cape Prince of Wales, from the natives, 

 about a year ago, have been forwarded to the Navy 

 department in the idea that they might be relics of 



