August 9, 1907] 



SCIENCE 



187 



velocity from the Weather Bureau records is 

 slightly higher than the earlier averages. The 

 minimuin is found in June (24.0 miles an 

 hour) instead of August (22.6 miles). The 

 highs show a mean annual of 25.6 miles; a 

 maximum of 29.5 in January and a minimum 

 of 22.1 in August. 



"The 'Southwest' or 'Wet' Chinook," by 

 H. Buckingham; "The 'Dry' Chinook in 

 British Columbia," by E. T. Grassham; and 

 "The Wet and Dry Chinooks," by Professor 

 Cleveland Abbe. 



COAST METEOROLOGICAL STATIONS OF CHILE 



The seventh volume of the " Anuario del 

 Servicio Meteorolojico de la Direccion del Ter- 

 ritorio Maritimo " of Chile (1905) contains 

 the valuable observations made at sixteen sta- 

 tions along the coast of Chile. In this volume 

 there are given for the first time the records 

 from the port of Punta Arenas, in the Strait 

 of Magellan. The list of stations is an inter- 

 esting one and includes the island of Juan 

 Fernandez and Punta Dungeness, the latter at 

 the eastern end of the Strait. The southern- 

 most stations, especially Islote de los Evan- 

 gelistas, Punta Arenas and Punta Dungeness, 

 furnish valuable data which, with those now 

 being recorded by the Argentine Meteoro- 

 logical Service at its far southern stations, 

 will soon fill up one of the gaps in the meteor- 

 ological charts of the world. 



UPPER AIR CURRENTS 0\'ER THE POLAR SEA 



The Beitrdge zur Physik der freien Atmos- 

 pliare. Vol. 2, No. 3, contains a brief report 

 by Dr. H. Hergesell of his observations by 

 means of balloons, undertaken during the past 

 summer in the Arctic Ocean on board the 

 Princess Alice, with the assistance of the 

 Prince of Monaco. As to wind direction, the 

 meteorological element concerning which there 

 is probably the most interest, it is stated that 

 the direction was variable (July 13-September 

 8), so that no prevailing direction could be 

 established. The air moved out from the pole 

 as often as it moved poleward. As the ob- 

 served currents undoubtedly belonged to the 

 great eircumpolar whirl, it is probable that 



the latter must frequently have changed its 

 position within the polar basin. 



HUMIDITY CHARTS OF THE UNITED STATES 



The first complete series of monthly rela- 

 tive humidity charts for the United States 

 appears in the Report of the South African 

 Association for the Advancement of Science 

 for 1906. These charts, based on data for the 

 uniform period of fourteen years (1888-1901), 

 published in the Report of the Chief of the 

 Weather Bureau for 1901-02, p. 318, were 

 drawn by Kenneth Johnson, of Harvard Uni- 

 versity. The lines are drawn for differences 

 of 10 per cent. Relative humidity charts for 

 January, July and. the year had already been 

 published, but the present series is complete 

 for all the months, and is therefore a distinct 

 contribution to the climatology of the United 

 States. 



CHANGE OF CLIMATE IN DAMARALAND ? 



In a recent number of Nature (Vol. Y5, 

 1907, 536-537), Professor H. H. W. Pearson 

 considers the coniferous plant Welwitschia, 

 discovered by Welwitsch in Damaraland. The 

 apparent failure of natural reproduction of 

 this plant in a region well suited to the adult 

 plants suggests to Professor Pearson that the 

 climate is becoming drier, and the conditions 

 necessary to start germination are less fre- 

 quent than formerly. The species is evidently 

 losing ground, a fact which suggests climatic 

 change. 



SNOW GARLANDS 



In Bas Wetter for June, 1907, there are 

 published two views of a very rare phe- 

 nomenon known in Germany as " Sehnee- 

 girlanden." These were observed by Dr. C. 

 Kassner, in Berlin, on January 31, 1907. The 

 photographs were taken by him. The first de- 

 scription of snow-garlands was given by Hell- 

 mann in the Met. Zeitschr. for March, 1889, 

 and the second was given by Assmann, in the 

 June, 1889, number of the same journal. The 

 curious development of these garlands, as re- 

 ported by Kassner, resulted from the melting 

 of snow on the roof of a building, and a 

 subsequent sliding of the snow down the slope 



