FEBRUARY 8, 1901.] 
THE WOOD BUFFALO. 
TuHE following information has just come into 
my possession from the Inspector of Indian 
Agencies and Reserves, Mr. J. A. Macrae, who 
has recently returned from the far north. He 
writes: ‘‘ At Fort Chipewyan, Fort Smith and 
Fort Resolution, I made close enquiries into the 
number of wood buffalo remaining, having an 
opportunity—owing to meeting so many In- 
dians fresh from their grounds—such as I think 
no one else has enjoyed, to do this. Some of 
the Indians who were to meet me at each place 
had lately been near the Buffalo and had 
counted the different herds, which are gener- 
ally speaking, three in number—one ranging 
from Salt River to Peace Point on Peace River ; 
one from Salt River north to Great Slave Lake ; 
and one from Salt River east and west. They 
number, I conclude, from 500 to 575. I under- 
stand that there has been an increase of per- 
haps a couple of hundred, and it would appear 
only to be necessary to continue vigorous pro- 
tective measures in order to perpetuate the 
herd. It is noticeable that the fur of the wood 
Buffalo, owing no doubt to climatic conditions, 
is longer and thicker than was that of its 
brother of the plains, and it has that straight- 
ness and thickness which characterized the 
musk ox robe.’’ . Orro J. Kiorz. 
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, 
OTrawa, CAN. 
CURRENT NOTES ON METEOROLOGY. 
THE ‘BOOM’ POPULATION OF KANSAS. 
SOME interesting facts concerning the change 
in the number of inhabitants of Kansas as a 
result of the rise and collapse of the ‘boom’ of 
the latter part of the decade 1880-1890, are 
given by Gannett in an article on ‘The Popu- 
Jation of the United States’ in the last number 
of the Bull. Amer. Geog. Soc. (No. 5, 1900). It 
will be remembered that a succession of un- 
usually rainy seasons at that time was followed 
by a large increase in land values, the whole 
region witnessing a tremendous ‘boom.’ There 
was a rapid gain in population. A number of 
dry seasons following, the settlers were literally 
starved out, and the country was quickly de- 
populated again. In 1885, at the beginning of 
the ‘boom,’ Kansas had a population of 1,268, - 
SCIENCE. 
233 
530; in 1888, near its crest, the population 
numbered 1,518,552 ; in 1890 the figures were 
1,427,096, and in 1895 only 1,333,734. The 
State thus gained nearly 250,000 inhabitants in 
three years, and later lost nearly 200,000. 
Similar conditions obtained in Nebraska and 
the two Dakotas. 
THE METEOROLOGY OF LOWER CALIFORNIA. 
In an article on ‘ Explorations in the Central 
Part of Baja California,’ in the Bull. Amer. 
Geog. Soc. (No. 5, 1900, 397-429), Dr. Gustav 
Hisen gives a brief account of the rainfall and 
climatic conditions of the meteorologically prac- 
tically unknown peninsula of Lower California. 
There are two sources and two seasons of rain- 
fall. The summer rains extend from Todos 
Santos and Cabo San Lucas, in the south, as far 
up as the Sierra Nevada, in the northern part 
of Alta California. These summer rains are 
most frequent and heavy in the backbone of 
the Sierra which runs along the eastern coast 
of Baja California. The winter rains how and 
then extend from Alta California down to the 
Pacific Coast, even as far south as San José del 
Cabo. These winter rains never enter the Gulf 
of California, and diminish in quantity and 
regularity to the south. As far south as San 
Quentin they are fairly regular, but beyond that 
point they are uncertain. In spite of these two 
sources of supply, the peninsula of Lower Cali- 
fornia is but very scantily supplied with rain. 
THE HARVARD METEOROLOGICAL STATIONS IN 
PERU. 
THE 55th Annual Report of the Director of 
the Astronomical Observatory of Harvard Col- 
lege contains an announcement which will fill 
meteorologists the world over with regret. 
Speaking of the meteorological stations of the 
Harvard College Observatory in Peru, concern- 
ing which mention has frequently been made 
in the columns of SCIENCE, Professor Picker- 
ing says: ‘‘ The observations at these different 
stations have now been continued in many 
cases for eight or ten years. At such stations, 
where, from the necessities of the case, the 
observers are generally men of limited educa 
tion and experience, observations of the great- 
est accuracy cannot be expected, except by 
maintaining trained observers at greatly in- 
