90 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXVI. Ko. 655 



that the tallest men are found in the less 

 sunny climates; the advantages of cloudy 

 weather in increasing the vital activities; the 

 value of dark forests as sanitaria ; the dangers 

 of too much light in the treatment of tuber- 

 culosis, etc. Many of Major WoodruiFs ideas 

 are certainly contrary to generally accepted 

 notions regarding the importance of sunlight. 

 He advocates playgrounds for city children, 

 but adds, " let the parks be well shaded, and 

 not the stunting sand baths which are so 

 harmful." In closing his notes. Major Wood- 

 ru£P laments the fact that climatologists have 

 been so slow to take up the study of light, 

 and calls attention to the well-known lack of 

 careful and systematic observations of the in- 

 tensity of sunlight. It is well that medical 

 men should spur on climatologists to take 

 more and better observations along many 

 lines, and Major Woodruff's interesting views, 

 and his enthusiastic advocacy of them, will 

 serve a useful purpose if they lead to further 

 investigation by meteorologists and clima- 

 tologists along aetinonietric lines. 



FRESH W.4TER IN A WATERSPOUT 



Waterspouts — ^perhaps often better called 

 cloud-spouts — seem to draw up water from 

 the surface over which they occur, and it 

 is, therefore, not infrequently believed that 

 they are largely composed of salt water in 

 eases where they are seen over the oceans. 

 There is an old story of a vessel which passed 

 through a waterspout (quoted in Davis's " Ele- 

 mentary Meteorology," page 283). The cap- 

 tain was drenched in a downpour of water, 

 which nearly washed him overboard. On be- 

 ing asked whether he had tasted the water he 

 replied : , " Taste it. I could not help tasting 

 it. It ran into my mouth, nose, eyes and 

 ears." " Was it then fresh or salt ? " he was 

 asked. " As fresh," said the captain, " as ever 

 I tasted spring water in my life." In 

 Symori'S's Meteorological Magazine for April, 

 1907, there is an account of waterspouts which 

 were encountered by the British steamship 

 Dalyarth in the Euxine, July 15, 1906. The 

 steamer passed within one half mile of the 

 spouts. " There was a sound of broken water. 



resembling distant surf on a beach; a terrific 

 deluge of rain, which obscured all view of the 

 waterspout — even the lightning failed to pene- 

 trate through the downpouring sheets of 

 water. The falling water was fresh." Dead 

 fish were later seen lying on the surface of 

 the water, and some even fell on the decks of 

 the steamship. 



DUST WHIRL AT JOHANNESBURG 



Photographs of dust whirls are not abun- 

 dant, and those who are interested in such 

 matters may be glad to note the publication of 

 two views of a dust whirl in the " Report of 

 the Director of the Transvaal Meteorological 

 Department for the year ending June 30, 

 1906 " (Pretoria, 1907). October 21 was calni 

 and hot at Johannesburg, the conditions being 

 favorable for the production of dust whirls. 

 Several large ones were seen during the day. 

 One of them, which passed over the suburbs, 

 did some damage. The two views show dif- 

 ferent stages of the same whirl. 



E. DeC. Ward 



Harvard UpfivERsiTT 



CUBEEXT IfOTES ON LAND FORMS 

 earthquake fissures and scarps 

 A SUMMARIZED description of fissures and 

 scarps due to earthquakes is presented by W. 

 H. Hobbs in his essay " Oh Some Principles 

 of Seismic Geology " (Beitr. zur Geophysik, 

 VIIL, 1907, 219-292), under the title "Dislo- 

 cations at the Earth's Surface as the Result 

 of Macroseisms" (pp. 236-253). Thirty-one 

 examples are cited. Some of the most impor- 

 tant are as follows : In India at the head of 

 the Arabian Sea, 1819, the scarp " rose like a 

 wall above the plain, 16 miles in length," with 

 a vertical displacement of 20 feet; near Well- 

 ington, New Zealand, 1855, a cleft was formed 

 for 90 miles with a displacement of 9 feet; 

 in Tulare County, California, 1856, a fissure 

 " in a uniform direction for a distance of 

 200 miles"; at Fort Tejon, California, 1857, 

 a fissure 20 feet wide and 40 miles long; in 

 Owens Valley, California, 1872, a scarp was 

 formed 40 miles long and from 5 to 20 feet 

 in height; in the Tarawera district. New Zea- 



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