Decembee 14, 1906.] 



SCIENCE. 



785 



CURRENT NOTES ON METEOROLOGY. 

 PERUVIAN METEOROLOGY. 



The meteorological work of the Harvard 

 College Observatory in Peru has frequently 

 been brought to the attention of the readers 

 of Science in these notes, especially during 

 the visit of the present compiler of these notes 

 to South America in 1897-8. In 1899 there 

 was published the first volume on 'Peruvian 

 Meteorology, 1888-1890,' containing observa- 

 tions made at Mollendo, Arequipa, Vincocaya, 

 Puno and near Chosica (Annals Harv. Coll. 

 Ots'y, XXXIX., Pt. I.). In this same volume 

 there was an account of the volcano El Misti, 

 on whose summit there was maintained for 

 some years the highest meteorological observa- 

 tory in the world, and also a paper on the con- 

 figuration and heights of the Andes. Both of 

 these chapters were written by Professor Solon 

 I. Bailey, and the compilation and reduction 

 of the observations was also carried out by 

 him. We now have a second publication, 

 entitled 'Peruvian Meteorology, 1892-1895' 

 {Annals Earv. Coll. OWy, XXXIX., Pt. II., 

 1906), in which there are tabulations of the 

 observations made at Mollendo (80 ft.). La 

 Joya (4,140 ft.), Arequipa (8,050 ft.), Cha- 

 <;hani (16,650 ft.), Misti Summit (19,200 ft.), 

 Mt. Blanc (15,600 ft.), Huesos (13,300 ft.), 

 €uzco (11,100 ft.) and Santa Ana (3,400 ft.). 

 Mollendo is on the seacoast; La Joya is on 

 the Desert of Islay; the Chachani station was, 

 until the establishment of that on the Misti, 

 the highest meteorological station in the world. 

 The so-called Mt. Blanc station is on the flank 

 ■of the Misti, at about the altitude of the top 

 ■of Mont Blanc, and the Huesos shelter is on a 

 lofty pampas at the base of the Misti. Cuzco 

 is the old Inca capital. And Santa Ana is 

 beyond the eastern Cordillera, near the limits 

 of civilization. Details concerning the loca- 

 tion and establishment of these different sta- 

 tions are given in the introduction, and also 

 a description of the tables. The extraordi- 

 nary interest which has attached to these 

 meteorological undertakings in Peru, carried 

 •on under great difficulties and often also, in 

 the establishment of some of, these stations, 

 .at considerable risk, has made the meteorolog- 



ical world impatient to have access to the 

 records. This volume will, therefore, be given 

 a warm welcome. In spite of breaks in some 

 records here, and inaccuracies in other records 

 there, the publication is one of unusual value. 

 Excellent views are given of each of the sta- 

 tions; a cross-section shows the relative dis- 

 tances and altitudes in each case, and curves 

 are given in some cases. A discussion of the 

 famous crescentic sand dunes of the desert 

 of Islay will prove interesting to geologists 

 and physiographers. The volume was com- 

 piled and prepared for publication by Pro- 

 fessor Solon I. Bailey. 



CIRRUS AND RAIN. 



At the Royal Observatory of Belgium, in 

 Uccle, Vanderlinden has, for the years 1892- 

 1905, studied the relation between the direc- 

 tion of movement of cirrus clouds and the 

 subsequent occurrence of rain. The direc- 

 tions which are oftenest followed by rain are 

 S.W., W. and N.W. The opposite directions 

 are in the majority of cases followed by days 

 without rain. The latter are, however, sel- 

 dom observed, and the general result is that, 

 omitting the S.E., E. and N.E. cases, there is 

 almost always the same probability of rain or 

 no rain. The probability exceeds 50 per cent, 

 in the case of the W. and S.W. octants only. 

 Cirrus clouds, then, do not appear always to 

 be the prognostics of rain which they have 

 been said to be. It may be noted that at 

 Blue Hill Mr, H. H. Clayton has shown that 

 cirrus clouds are not, as a whole, an indica- 

 tion of coming rain, but are somewhat less 

 frequently followed by rain than the average 

 probability of rain (Annals Harv. Coll. Ohs'y, 

 XXX., Pt. IV., 474). 



METEOROLOGICAL NOTES IN LABRADOR. 



Although the Moravian missionaries on 

 the Labrador coast have supplied remarkably 

 complete series of meteorological data from 

 that region, the interior of Labrador is very 

 little known meteorologically, and even frag- 

 mentary accounts are of interest. In an ac- 

 count of 'Labrador, from Lake Melville to 

 Ungava Bay' (Bull. Amer. Geogr. Soc, 38, 



