November 20, 1907] 



SCIENCE 



roi 



between 2,000 and 3,000, or in places below 

 2,000 mm. The monthly rainfalls at all sta- 

 tions are tabulated, but there is no map. 



EMNFALL TYPES AND RAINFALL SEASONS 



An investigation of rainfall types and of 

 their influence upon rainfall seasons has been 

 carried out for certain German stations by 

 G. Schwalbe (" Ueber Niederschlagstypen und 

 ihren Einfluss auf die jahrliche Periode des 

 Niederschlages," Met. Zeitschr., September, 

 1907). The conclusions, which are of wide 

 application, are as follows: (1) The influence 

 of thunder-storm rains upon the annual rain- 

 fall amount is considerable; (2) as thunder- 

 storms occur almost wholly in summer, they 

 tend to make the summer the season of maxi- 

 mum rainfall; (3) without the thunderstorm 

 rainfalls the annual period shows a tendency 

 to heavier rains in spring and fall, with less 

 rain in the extreme seasons; (4) in the in- 

 terior of eastern Germany the continental 

 type of summer rainfall maximum is marked, 

 so that the annual period is not essentially 

 altered by thunder-storms; (5) rainfall which 

 comes in showers is fairly equally distributed 

 throughout the year; (6) squalls have a maxi- 

 mum in spring and fall; (7) general rains 

 have a winter maximum in coast districts; 

 an autumn maximum in transition areas, and 

 a summer maximum in the interior. 



CLIMATE AUD DURUM WHEAT 



" The Effect of Climatic Conditions on the 

 Composition of Durum Wheat " is discussed 

 by J. A. LeClerc, of the Bureau of Chemistry, 

 in the Yearhooh of the Department of Agri- 

 culture for 1906, pp. 199-212. Durum wheat 

 is grown extensively in Russia, Algeria, Italy 

 and Spain, and in the United States it does 

 remarkably well on the great plains. The 

 wheat grown in the drier localities of this 

 country has a higher nitrogen content. In 

 the humid or irrigated regions the tendency 

 of the wheat is to become starchy or mealy. 

 Samples of Kubanka wheat grown in less than 

 15 inches of rainfall showed 2.7 per cent, of 

 protein in excess of that in samples from 

 localities with more than 15 inches of rainfall, 

 or irrigated. An excessive amount of rain- 



fall, or irrigation, is followed by a crop with 

 a very low percentage of protein. Samples 

 were grown in Colorado and Idaho, some 

 under dry-land farming conditions, and others 

 under irrigation. Of these, the former showed 

 4.16 per cent, more protein than the latter. 

 Hot seasons produce the most abundant crops, 

 and the longer the growing season, as a rule, 

 the lower the percentage of protein. 



CYCLONES AND TILTING OF THE GROUND 



In Nature, September 26, 1907, mention is 

 made of some observations by Omori on the 

 tilting of the ground during cyclones in 

 Japan. On October 10-11, 1904, when a 

 cyclone passed off to sea east of Tokio, there 

 was a tilting of about 3^ inches towards the 

 area of low pressure. On January 10-11, 

 1906, a cyclone passed close to Tokio, from 

 southwest to northeast, and was accompanied 

 by a tilting, first to the east, and then, as the 

 cyclone center moved eastwards, to the west. 

 The total change of inclination was about 

 2".87. The ground rose under the cyclone 

 in the latter case, and sank in the former. 

 The difference is explained as being due to 

 the fact that the sea level usually rises by 

 more than enough to compensate for the fall 

 of pressure, and hence the resulting pressure 

 on the bottom of the sea is really greater with 

 a low than with a high barometer. 



MONTHLY WEATHER REVIEW 



No. 7, Vol. XXXV., Monthly Weather Re- 

 view, 1907, contains the following papers: 

 Professor Cleveland Abbe, " The Fundamental 

 Interval in Meteorological and Climatological 

 Studies, especially in Charts of Isohyetal 

 Lines " ; largely a review of Hellmann's recent 

 memoir on the precipitation over the water- 

 sheds of the north German rivers. W. H. 

 Alexander, " A Possible Case of Ball Light- 

 ning," at Burlington, Vt., July 2, 1907. Pro- 

 fessor P. H. Bigelow, " Studies on the Phe- 

 nomena of the Evaporation of Water over 

 Lakes and Reservoirs," deals with the pro- 

 posed study of the problems of evaporation 

 at the Salton Sea, in southeru California. 

 Professor Cleveland Abbe, " Australian Clima- 

 tology," brief statement concerning the gen- 



