176 
Western Australia has absolutely prohib- 
ited the introduction of rabbits, English 
sparrows, flying foxes, starlings, blackbirds 
and thrushes, and upon the recommendation 
of the Colonial Bureau of Agriculture can 
increase the list of proscribed species at any 
time. California has likewise prohibited 
the introduction of Australian rabbits, fly- 
ing foxes, or other animals or birds detri- 
mental to fruit growing, but while she may 
be able to prevent the direct importation of 
these pests she can not keep them out if they 
once become acclimated in neighboring 
States, for they would swarm in from the 
north or the east as readily as the English 
sparrow spreads from one State to another. 
The remedy is simple. Congress should 
take steps promptly to protect Hawaii and 
Puerto Rico against further introduction of 
noxious species and to prevent the mon- 
goose from being brought into the United 
States. The introduction of exotic mammals 
and birds should be restricted by law and 
should be under the control of the U.S. 
Department of Agriculture. The wild rab- 
bit, the mongoose, the flying foxes and the 
mina of the Old World should be rigidly 
excluded, and speciesof doubtful value, such 
as the starling, skylark, kohlmeise and 
blackbird, should be imported with the 
greatest care, and only in places where they 
can be controlled in case they prove inju- 
rious. 
T. S. PauMeEr. 
WASHINGTON, D. C. 
THE MENTAL EFFECTS OF THE WEATHER. 
Tue influence of the weather upon men- 
tal states has been a matter of comment 
since the days of the ancients, though but 
little scientific work has been done to deter- 
mine, either qualitatively or quantitatively, 
just what the effectis. The weather maxims 
of wiseacres have been based very largely 
upon the peculiar activities of various mem- 
bers of the animal kingdom under definite 
SCIENCE. 
[N.S. Von. X. No. 241. 
meteorological conditions—usually those 
immediately preceding a storm—but, aside 
from these literary curiosities,material bear- 
ing even indirectly upon the subject is ex- 
tremely limited. The effect of climate upon 
racial traits has been much more fully 
treated, both by the anthropologist and the 
criminologist, and the literature of the sub- 
ject is quite extended. We are most of us, 
however, convinced that, whatever racial 
differences may be ascribed to the varying 
climates of different parts of our planet, we 
as individuals are influenced in our con- 
duct to a marked degree by varying me- 
teorological conditions. Literature is full 
of allusions to such influences, and nota 
few of the world’s great thinkers have left 
on record observations of such effects upon 
themselves. 
The study which forms the basis of this 
paper is an attempt to throw some light 
upon the problem by comparing the occur- 
rences of certain misdemeanors and other 
data of conduct, under definite weather 
conditions, with the prevalence of those con- 
ditions. The method of its prosecution was 
as follows: At the New York City station 
of the United States Weather Bureau the 
mean barometer, temperature and humidity, 
the total movement of the wind, the char- 
acter of the day and the precipitation for 
each one of the 3,650 days of the years 1888— 
1897 inclusive were copied upon specially 
prepared blanks. From these records were 
then computed, by a process of tabulation, 
the exact percentage of days which were 
characterized as fair, partly cloudy, as rainy 
or clear, or as having come within a definite 
temperature group of 5° to 10°, 10° to 15°, 
15° to 20°—and, in a similar manner, 
within arbitrarily determined groups for 
barometer, humidity and wind. In this way 
‘the normal prevalence of any definite me- 
teorological condition was determined as a 
basis for comparison with the occurrence of 
the data studied. 
