December 25, 1891.] 



SCIENCE. 



355 



appointed for the purpose by the Biological Club of the Ohio State 

 University and Agricultural Experiment Station, and has secured 

 the promise of hearty co-operation from a goodly number who are 

 expected to be present, read papers, and otherwise aid at this first 

 meeting. A partial list of papers to be read is as follows : Biologi- 

 cal Investigation of Waters, by A. M. Bleile; Notes on Lichens, 

 by E. E. Bogue; Dollen's Method for the Determination of Time, 

 by E. D. Bohannan; Photography in Scientific Work, by J. N. 

 Bradford; Some Notes on the Fauna of the Wabash and White 

 Water Valleys, by A. W. Butler; Biological Training as Prelim- 

 inary to the Study of Medicine, by E. E. Chapin ; Observations on 

 Empusa aphidis, by Freda Detmers; Protective Inoculation, by 

 H. J. Detmers; The Babcock Milk Tester, by F. G. Fallen- 

 bach; Mycological Notes for 1891, by W. A. Kellernian; Seed 

 Germination at Intervals after Treatment with Fungicides, by 

 W. A. Kellerman; Notes on the ^geridce of Columbus, by D. 

 S, Kellicott; The Effect of Moisture upon the Vitality of Seed, by 

 William R. Lazenby; Notes on Cross-Fertilization, by William R. 

 Lezenby; Comparison of Evaporative Powers of Certain Coals 

 ■with their Ultimate Composition, by N. W. Lord ; A Study of 

 Plant Introduction in Franklin County, by A. D. Selby ; The Coal 

 Supply of the World, by H. P. Smith; Science for the Blind, by 

 Henry Snyder ; Some Laboratory Fixtures, by Henry Snyder ; Some 

 Features of Ohio's Mollusca, by H. A. Surface; Magnetic Fields 

 in Laboratories, by B. F. Thomas; On the Behavior of Antiseptics 

 toward Salivary Digestion, by H. A. Weber; The Relation between 

 the Increase of some Insects and the Overflow of Rivers, by F. M. 

 Webster; Notes on the Fecundity of some Species of Ajshides, by 

 F. M. Webster; Variations and Intermediate Forms of certain 

 Asters, by W. C. Werner; Post-Glacial History of Black River, by 

 A. A. Wright.' 



— Dr. M. A. Veeder, Lyons, N.Y., has issued a circular, lu-ging 

 observations of auroras, and a blank for entering the records, 

 which may be obtained from him. Dr. Veeder says: "In order 

 to determine the local distribution and altitude of the aurora, it is 

 desirable to have numerous observers suitably distributed through- 

 out the area covered by the observations so as to secure as full 

 information as possible as to the extent to which an aurora was 

 present or absent during each hour. In case that an aurora is 

 not reported from any given locality, it is necessary to have the 

 means of determining whether this failure was due to lack of ob- 

 servation, or to cloudiness, etc., or whether the aurora was '-eally 

 absent. For this reason it is desirable that there be as few blanks 

 as possible in the table, although even the most fragmentary 

 record may become of importance for purposes of comparison 

 with others. The results already obtained warrant the belief that 

 by concerted effort information of practical value may be secured. 

 During the coming year auroras will probably increase in fre- 

 quency, especially near the equinoxes, and a single display having 

 well defined characteristics, like that from Sept. 8 to 11, 1891, 

 may, if thoroughly observed, lead to most important conclu- 

 sions." 



— The Meteorological Department of the Government of India 

 has published Part IV. of " Cyclone Memoirs," being an inquiry 

 into the nature and course of storms in the Arabian Sea, and a 

 catalogue and brief histoi-y of all recorded cyclones in that sea 

 from 1648 to 1889. The work, says Nature, which has been pre- 

 pared by Mr. W. L. Dallas, chiefly for the use of mariners navi- 

 gating those parts, will no doubt be of considerable use to them, 

 as hitherto there were no track charts of the storms in the Arabian 

 Sea for the different months. For the majority of the storms 

 quoted the available materials are admittedly very scanty; never- 

 theless, the author has been able to draw some useful conclusions 

 from them with reference to the general behavior of the storms. 

 The paper is divided into two parts — the first gives the details of 

 each of fifty four storms in chronological order, the second treats 

 of their geographical distribution and movemeuts according to 

 months and seasons, and the discussion is followed by charts 

 showing the tracks of the storms in the different months. The 

 cyclones are formed on the northern limits of the southwest mon- 

 soon; when the northern limits of the monsoon reach the land, 

 and also when the northeast monsoon extends from Asia to the 



equator, which is the case from December to March, no cyclones 

 are formed over the Arabian Sea. The barometric fall is gradual 

 and equal on all sides, except near the centre, and a depression of 

 0.35 inch below the average is indicative of the existence of a 

 cyclone in the neighborhood. When the storms are in confined 

 waters they may burst with great suddenness, but in other cases 

 strong winds are felt for several hundred miles around the centre. 

 The northern parts of the Arabian Sea are liable, during the 

 prevalence of the northeast monsoon, to be disturbed by small 

 cyclonic storms descending from the highlands of Persia and 

 Beluchistan, but the whole of the southwest of the Arabian Sea, 

 though liable to southwest gales during the summer monsoon, and 

 to strong northeast winds during the winter monsoon, is free from 

 cyclones. 



— The Iowa Academy of Sciences will convene in Des Moines, 

 Iowa, December 29, 30. A full attendance and a complete pro- 

 gramme is announced. The president of the academy is Professor 

 C. C. Nutting, of the State University; Professor Herbert Osbom, 

 of- the State Agricultural College, is the secretary. 



— An Austrian expedition for the scientific exploration of the 

 Mediterranean found on July 28 last, between Malta and Crete, 

 in 35° 44' 20'' north latitude, and 21" 44' 50" east longitude, a 

 depth of 14,436 feet, the deepest sounding yet taken in the Medit- 

 erranean. At 22i miles south-east a sounding of 13,148 feet was 

 taken. 



— Dr. E. Von Drygalski, at a meeting of the Geographical 

 Society, October 10, spoke upon his expedition to Greenland in 

 the summer of 1891, according to the " Proceedings of the Royal 

 Geographical Society." The inland-ice and glaciers of Greenland 

 present the nearest comparison to the conditions which must be 

 supposed to have prevailed in the most recent geological time 

 over the- greater part of Germany, when the Scandinavian glaciers 

 extended as far as the Hartz and Riesengebirge. If one desires to 

 investigate more closely the circumstances under which the move- 

 ment of such enormous ice-masses took place, one must, in order 

 to a successful inquiry into this subject, make one's studies not on 

 the small glaciers of the Alps, but on the glaciers of Greenland, 

 which stand in direct connection with the great ice-covering 

 (130,000 square miles) of the interior and in their movement, 

 which reaches a velocity, unheard of in the Alps, of 35, 70, and 

 even 100 feet a day, are indicative of the force of the inland ice 

 itself. The principal task of the expedition was to investigate the 

 conditions of movement of the ice-masses of Greenland and their 

 main physical features for one year. Bat because it was impos- 

 sible to transport, during the present year, in the vessels of the 

 ' ' Greenland trade " which from Copenhagen carry on the com- 

 merce with the colony, the complete equipment necessary for 

 wintering in the polar regions, and inasmuch as it appeared desir- 

 able to first of all come to a decision on the spot as to the point at 

 which a station should be established, it was decided to despatch 

 a preliminary expedition for this purpose in the summer of 1891. 

 This expedition sailed from Copenhagen on the 3d of May, and 

 on the 16th of June reached Jacobshavn. The intention was to 

 travel from here across the ice-fjord to Claushavn, and then to 

 reach, via Tasnisk, the great Jacobshavn glacier. But this proved 

 to be impracticable, because all the fjords were choked full of ice. 

 An attempt had therefore to be made to reach the glacier over- 

 land from the north. From the visit to the glacier it was ascer- 

 tained that the edge of the glacier had not shifted to any 

 considerable extent since Hammer's measurements in September, 

 1879. On the 20tb of June the expedition set out from Jacobs- 

 havn, and proceeded by way of Ritenbenk through the Vaigat to 

 the Umanak fjord, and arrived at Umanak on the 29th of June. 

 From this point the party made their way to the little settlement 

 of Ikerasak, situated in the interior of the fjord, whence different 

 excursions were undertaken to the Sermilik, the Karajaks and 

 the Itiodlilarsuk fjords almost up to the limit of the inland ice. 

 The Store Karajaks Isbi-a; was determined upon as the best place 

 for the station to be erected in the year 1892. On the 29th of 

 July the return journey from Umanak was commenced, and on 

 the 18th of September Copenhagen was reached. 



