490 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. III. No. 65. 



night, keeping temperature records, weighing 

 the food, making analyses, etc. 



In reply to questions as to effect of food on 

 the quality of the fat. Dr. Atwater stated that 

 experiments made on dogs had conclusively 

 proved that the fat formation is a function of 

 both the organism and the food. 



DuRAND Woodman, 



Secretary. 



GEOLOGICAL CONFERENCE OP HARVARD UNIVER- 

 SITY, FEBRUARY 18, 1896. 



1. An Occurrence of theralite in Costa Mica. By 

 J. E. Wolff. To be published in Amer. 

 Jour. Sci., April, 1896. 



2. The Harvard Meteorological Stations in Peru. 

 By E. Dec. Ward. 



In 1887 a considerable sum of money was left 

 to Harvard College Observatory by the will of 

 Mr. Uriah A. Boyden, to aid in the establish- 

 ment of an observatory ' ' at such an elevation 

 as to be free, so far as practicable, from the im- 

 pediments to accurate observations which occur 

 in the observatories now existing, owing to at- 

 mospheric influences." In order to select the 

 best possible location for the new observatory, 

 expeditions were undertaken, in 1888 and 1889, 

 to Colorado and California, where astronomical 

 work of various kinds was done at a number of 

 different places. None of the stations thus tem- 

 porarily occupied proved entirely satisfactory, 

 and it was finally decided to establish the new 

 station in Peru, where Messrs. S. I. and M. H. 

 Bailey had, in the mean time, obtained some 

 excellent results in connection with astronomical 

 work done by them for the Harvard College 

 Observatory on Mt. Harvard, in Peru. The 

 expedition which was sent out to build the new 

 observatory left the United States, under the 

 direction of Prof. Wm. H. Pickering, in De- 

 cember, 1890, arriving at its destination the 

 middle of the following January. 



The meteorological advantages for astronom- 

 ical work in the region selected for occupation 

 are very great. The temperature seldom falls 

 below 40° and seldom rises above 75°. The 

 rainy season is very short, and but little rain 

 falls, generally less than four inches. Novem- 

 ber marks the beginning of the cloudy season; 

 December is fairly clear, and January to March 



are cloudy and rainy. During the rest of the 

 year the atmosphere is very dry, and the sky 

 prevailingly clear. In the rainy season it by no 

 means rains every day, there being often a week 

 or a fortnight during which no rain falls. The 

 excessive dryness of the climate, in which vege- 

 tation is maintained only by constant irrigation, 

 the short rainy season and the small amount of 

 cloudiness combine to make this a most favor- 

 able region for astronomical work. 



There are at present eight meteorological 

 stations in Peru, maintained by the Harvard 

 College Observatory. The principal one is at 

 Arequipa, where the observatory is situated at 

 an altitude of 8,050 feet above the sea, and 

 about 80 miles from the coast. The city itself 

 is situated in a little oasis formed by a river 

 valley at the foot of the Cordillera, a little 

 above the lower-lying desert. At Mollendo, 

 on the seacoast, there is a meteorological sta- 

 tion 85 feet above sea level. Between Mol- 

 lendo and the main station at Arequipa, another 

 station has been established, at La Joya, about 

 in the center of a rainless, barren region, and 

 at an elevation of 4,140 feet. The most inter- 

 esting station of all is that on the summit of 

 the volcano El Misti, 19,200 feet above the sea, 

 lying northeast of Arequipa, about ten miles 

 distant. This station, established after much 

 hardship and maintained with considerable dif- 

 ficulty, is now the highest meteorological sta- 

 tion in the world. Mr. S. P. Fergusson, of 

 Blue Hill Observatory, Massachusetts, has re- 

 cently constructed a meteorograph for the 

 Misti, which records automatically temperature, 

 pressure, humidity, and wind direction and 

 velocity, and will run three months without 

 rewinding. This instrument will obviate the 

 necessity of the frequent visits now made to 

 the summit by the observers at Arequipa. 



The other stations are as follows : Flank of 

 El Misti, 15,700 feet, about the altitude of Mont 

 Blanc ; Alto de los Huesos, 13,400 feet, a high 

 desert plateau east of El Misti ; Cuzco, between 

 the eastern and western Andes, 16,100 feet, 

 and Santa Ana, east of the Andes, in the 

 Urubamba Valley, 3,400 feet above the sea. 



This continuous line of stations, reaching from 

 the coast inland over 350 miles, and including 

 such great altitudes as the summit and flank of 



