Maech 20, 1914] 



SCIENCE 



429 



period, for history was in the making in these 

 turbulent waters and along these sequestered 

 shores long before the Gloucesterman was 

 conceived. The purpose of this notice is not 

 to direct attention to the scientific analysis 

 of the fishing business, into which it does not 

 purport to enter, but to applaud the worth and 

 fitness of this contribution to the historic 

 development of the oldest known industry on 

 the North American continent and to congrat- 

 ulate the author on the attractive manner in 

 which he has presented his subject. As an 

 official document it bears the cachet of dignity 

 and the assurance of durability. 



John M. Clarke 



NOTES ON METEOBOLOGT AND CLIMA- 

 TOLOGY 



CLIMATOLOGY AT THE ASSOCIATION OP AMERI- 

 CAN GEOGRAPHERS 



At the tenth annual meeting of the Asso- 

 ciation of American Geographers at Prince- 

 ton, N. J., January 1 and 2, 1914, six clima- 

 tological papers were presented: 

 The Weather Element in American Climates: 

 E. DeC. Ward. 



Since American climates are chiefly made of 

 cyclonic weather, this factor is all-important; 

 the actual conditions affect us and not the 

 averages. Winter is a cyclonically-controlled 

 period — at this time of year practically the 

 whole country is covered with cyclonic paths. 

 In summer, solar control is uppermost, the 

 cyclone paths are in the north and the 

 cyclones weak. Thus cyclone paths migrate 

 with the sun. As the distribution of meteoro- 

 logical elements in a cyclone is different in 

 different parts of the country, Professor Ward 

 is preparing regional cyclonic weather types 

 for the United States. 



The Frostless Period in Maryland and Dela- 

 ware: Oliver L. Fassig. 

 The number of days (average of 20 years) 

 between the last severe frost or freezing tem- 

 perature in the spring and the first in the 

 fall ranges from 130 days in the west to orer 

 200 days in the immediate vicinity of Chesa- 

 peake Bay. For further study of plant growth 

 as related to climatic conditions, phenological 



observations of similar plants in the same 

 soil (transported) are to be undertaken at 

 many points, each group being visited every 

 10 or 15 days. 

 Storm Frequency in the United States and 



Europe: C. J. Kullmer. 



A geographical study of cyclone frequency 

 of the United States 1874 to 1891 and of 

 Europe 1876 to 1891 shows irregular or per- 

 haps periodic latitude variations of cyclone 

 frequency. An attempt was made to correlate 

 these latitudinal changes with the eleven-year 

 periodical latitude change of sun-spot belts. 

 Such changes of cyclone frequency are prob- 

 ably accompanied by rainfall and temperature 

 variations. 

 The Pleionian Variations of Temperature: 



Henry Arctowski. 



Swings of temperature covering a year or 

 more seem to be the result of periodic fluctua- 

 tions in the solar constant plus variations 

 caused by volcanic dust in the atmosphere. 

 This coincides with the results obtained by 

 Abbot and Fowle and many others. 

 Climate and Human Efficiency: Ellsworth 



Huntington. 



From a study of the piece-work wages of 

 270 operatives in some Connecticut factories, 

 1910-1912, it was found that their maximum 

 efiiciency came in December with a secondary 

 maximum in May. The minimum of about 

 85 per cent, of the maximum came in January 

 and another of about 90 per cent, in August. 

 Highest efficiency usually occurred with out- 

 of-door temperatures near 58° (F.), and with 

 wide variations of temperature from one day 

 to the next. Other meteorological elements 

 considered individually in this connection 

 gave no satisfactory results. Further work 

 will be done to compare mental efficiency with 

 weather. 

 The Snowfall About the Great Lakes: Charles 



F. Brooks. 



The snowfall in this region is heavy be- 

 cause of much moisture precipitated at low 

 temperatures by the many winter cyclones. 

 On account of the cooling action of land on 

 the prevailing west winds blowing across the 

 lakes, the east shores get more snow than the 



