NOVBMBEE 30, 1900.] 



SCIENCE. 



851 



The total reduction of air temperature accom- 

 panying and due to the eclipse varied directly 

 as the amount of the greatest obscuration of 

 the sun, and also to a slight extent with local 

 conditions and peculiarities of air movement. 

 The average maximum reduction near the belt 

 of totality in the interior of India was 8°. The 

 maximum reduction of temperature appears to 

 have occurred at Karwar (12°), and at Sahdol 

 (10°). The time of the greatest diminution of 

 temperature followed the time of greatest ob- 

 scuration of the sun by an average interval of 

 23 minutes. The pressure observations indicate 

 that there was a steady increase of pressure 

 during the first stage of the eclipse, of little or 

 no resulting variation during the second stage, 

 and of increase after the termination of the 

 eclipse at a smaller rate than during the first 

 stage, and also at a decreasing rate. The air 

 movement fell off very rapidly during the first 

 stage (that of decreasing heat and light), and 

 was feeble during the greater part of the second 

 stage. One of the most noteworthy meteoro- 

 logical features of the eclipse was a short sud- 

 den gust which occurred about twenty minutes 

 after the commencement of the eclipse at a 

 majority of stations in and near the belt of 

 totality. There was a large and rapid increase 

 of the vapor pressure and also of the relative 

 humidity, followed by an equally large and 

 rapid decrease, the whole constituting an oscil- 

 latory variation of large amplitude and very 

 short period. 



NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE. 



The National Geographic Magazine for No- 

 vember contains three articles of meteorolog- 

 ical interest. The first is an account of ' The 

 Manila Observatory,' by Father Jose Algue, S. J. 

 This observatory has done excellent work, espe- 

 cially in connection with the typhoons of the 

 Far East. Frequent reference has been made 

 to the publications of the Manila Observatory 

 in these Notes. The second paper is by Mr. 

 F. H. Newell, of the U. S. Geological Survey, 

 and deals with The Limited Water Supply of the 

 Arid Region. The land west of the 100th me- 

 ridian was, as Mr. Newell points out, at first 

 thought to be worthless for agricultural pur- 

 poses. Then the pendulum swung far in the 



other direction, and the general feeling was that 

 there was abundant water for irrigation and 

 that all the laud could be utilized. Finally we 

 have reached the present stage, when the limits 

 of the water supply are coming to be fairly 

 well seen, ' and the statement that only five or 

 ten per cent, of the land can be reclaimed ex- 

 cites comparatively little interest.' The third 

 paper of meteorological importance is one by 

 Gen. A. W. Greely, entitled 'Hurricanes on the 

 Coast of Texas,' in which an account is given of 

 the hurricane of September 15-16, 1875, ' which 

 caused a relatively greater loss of life and prop- 

 erty to the town of Indianola, Texas, than was 

 inflicted on Galveston by the recent hurricane.' 



THE CAPE HOEN PASSAGE. 



The November Pilot Chart of the North Pacific 

 Ocean presents a brief but interesting discussion 

 of the passage for sailing vessels around Cape 

 Horn to the westward. This discussion is based 

 on the reports received from 22 vessels which 

 rounded Cape Horn from east to west during 

 1899, and brings out in a very striking manner 

 the direct control exercised over the sailing 

 routes around Cape Horn by even the tempo- 

 rary winds of a cyclonic depression. It appears 

 that the most favorable weather condition for 

 the passage is the presence, during the period 

 necessary for rounding Cape Horn and for 

 crossing latitude 50°S. in the Pacific, of a cen- 

 ter of low pressure in the immediate vicinity of 

 the Cape, and not too far to the southward. 

 This distribution of pressure gives N.E., E. and 

 S.B. winds in succession in the case of a west- 

 bound vessel which keeps this center constantly 

 on the starboard side, i. e. ; which passes the 

 center to the soutliward. One of the fastest 

 passages made around Cape Horn in 1899, that 

 of the British bark Inveramsay, was made under 

 these conditions. 



ttndergeound tempebatuees during a hot 

 wave in south australia. 

 In his report on the Rainfall in South Aus- 

 tralia and the Northern Territory during 1897, 

 Sir Charles Todd, Government astronomer of 

 South Australia, calls attention to an interest- 

 ing case of slow penetration into the ground of 

 the high temperatures of a hot wave. During 



