Januaey 24, 1896.] 



-SCIENCE. 



127 



StriBgham and Fernando Sanford, Vice- 

 Fresidents; M. W. Haskell, Secretary; E. L. 

 Green, Treasurer; John D. Parker, Custo- 

 dian. These, with the former Presidents, 

 Joseph Le Conte and David Starr Jordan, 

 constitute the Executive Committee. 



The next meeting will be held at the 

 State University in Berkeley. 



M. W. Haskell, 



Secretary. 



CURRENT NOTES ON PHYSIOGEAPHY. 



ANNUAL RANGE OF TEMPEEATUEE OF THE 

 OCEAN SURFACE. 



The annual range of temperature in the 

 lower atmosphere, first clearly charted 

 by Supan (Zeitschr. fiir wissensch. Geogr., 

 1880) and more recently by Conolly (see 

 my Elementary Meteorology, fig. 18), is 

 recognized as an important climatic factor, 

 and the distribution of its larger and 

 smaller values brings forward several in- 

 teresting physiographical generalizations. 

 Dr. G. Schott now presents a similar chart for 

 the annual range of temperatui-e of the ocean 

 surface (Pet. Mitt., July, 1895,) from which 

 it appears that the maximum range, 15° to 

 20° C, occurs on latitude 40° N., next east 

 of the continents. Belts of large range, 5° 

 to 7° in the southern hemisphere, 8° to 12° 

 in the northern hemisphere, run around the 

 oceanic world about 38° north and south, 

 that is, under the belt of high atmosphere 

 pressure and prevailingly clear skies ; and 

 small ranges are generally found around the 

 equator, 1° to 3°, and in high latitudes, 2° 

 in the far southern ocean, 4° to 6° in the 

 far north. Dr. Schott ascribes the maxi- 

 mum ranges to the oscillation of cold and 

 warm currents; and to this the contrast be- 

 tween the off-shore winds of summer and 

 winter, by Nova Scotia and Corea, may 

 fairly be added. Locally increased ranges 

 on the equator, up to 5° or 6°, west of 

 Africa and South America, are explained 

 by the weaker and stronger flow of the 



South Atlantic and South Pacific eddies in 

 the southern summer and winter. 



WINDS OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 



The mean strength of the winds over the 

 Pacific Ocean is discussed by Koppen in the 

 Annalen der Sydrographie (July and Au- 

 gust, 1895), in preparation for the publica- 

 tion of a Segelhandbuch. The velocities, 

 without regard to directions, are presented 

 in tabular form and in charts for the oppo- 

 site seasons of January-February and July- 

 August. Apart from the practical value of 

 these results to navigation, they present 

 interesting features characteristic of the 

 planetary and terrestrial schemes of atmos- 

 pheric circulation. Where the material is 

 most plentiful, one may easily recognize the 

 weak winds and calms of the planetary sys- 

 tem around the equator, between the steady 

 trades on either side ; the frequency of 

 calms again, but also of stronger winds in 

 the horse latitudes, about 30° north and 

 south; and the rapid increase of strong 

 winds in the higher latitudes of the pre- 

 vailing westerlies. Terrestrial features ap- 

 pear in the annual migration of these wind 

 belts, not however symmetrically about the 

 equator, but about a medial line in perhaps 

 5° north latitude ; and also in the seasonal 

 variation of the strength of the westerlies, 

 from over 4 (Beaufort scale) in summer to 

 over 5 in winter in the northern temperate 

 zone, from over 5 to over 6 in the far 

 southern zone. The irregularities of the 

 planetary belts and of the terrestrial migra- 

 tions may, in great part, be plausibly refer- 

 red to cyclonic disturbances, but need much 

 further investigation. The light equatorial 

 winds shift south of the equator only near 

 Australia, where monsoon winds and a sea- 

 sonal counter current may be searched for. 



ABNORMAL AND SOLITARY WAVES. 



Eeports are not infrequently made of 

 waves or ' seas ' of exceptional size, erro- 



