284 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XXII. No. 557. 



impossible to cover this work in the time al- 

 lotted to botany in the secondary schools, but 

 tnere can be no doubt as to the high value of 

 these suggestions, from which the teacher may 

 well make such selections as his time may per- 

 mit. 



Charles E. Bessey. 

 The University of Nebbaska. 



CURRENT NOTES ON METEOROLOGY. 



FOEHN WINDS IN THE ANTARCTIC. 



During the Antarctic voyage of the Dis- 

 covery, warm southerly winds were observed 

 which, because of their high temperature, have 

 generally been regarded as of foehn-like char- 

 acter. Sir Clements Markhara (Geogr. Journ., 

 June) believes that the high temperature may 

 result from the fact that these winds blow from 

 the ocean beyond the pole, that is, Weddell Sea, 

 and not from adiabatic warming during des- 

 cent. Hence he thinks that the Great Barrier 

 may end on the other side of the pole with 

 another line of ice-cliffs facing the Weddell 

 Sea, and that the winds may blow across the 

 ice barrier with great velocity without lowering 

 their temperature. On the other hand. Dr. 

 W. ]Sr. Shaw suggests that the snow which 

 comes with these warm southerly winds is 

 carried along in a surface drift, and notes that 

 intensely cold air can contain very little 

 moisture. 



LOAV TEMPERATURE IN THE SAHARA. 



In the Meteorologische Zeitschrift for June, 

 1905, there is a note on some low temperatures 

 observed on December 19, 1904, in the Sahara, 

 between Tuggurt and Guerrara. The temper- 

 ature at midnight was 30.2° Fahr. ; at day- 

 break (6:15 A.M.), 28.4°; at sunrise (7:15 a.m.), 

 33.8°; at 2:30 p.m., in the shade, 75.2°; at 

 7 p.m., 41.0°; and at 8:30 p.m., 39.2°. It was 

 calm, and the sky was clear. On December 20, 

 at 7:30 p.m., the temperature was 33.8°, and 

 there was heavy frost, which in places reached 

 a thickness of 1 cm. 



NOTES. 



Das Wetter for June, 1905, contains an 

 interesting article, of a ' popular ' nature, en- 

 titled ' Aus dem Leben der Wolken,' by Dr. 



A. de Quervain; also a discussion, illustrated 

 by means of curves, entitled ' Temperaturen 

 auf Bergstationen und in der freien Atmos- 

 phare, by Dr. W. Wundt. * 



The Annuaire meteorologique of the Eoyal 

 Observatory of Belgium contains a useful list 

 of text-books of meteorology, prepared by J. 

 Vincent. Special attention is paid to general 

 treatises, but a considerable number of special 

 works on marine, medical and agricultural 

 climatology are included. The list begins with 

 Aristotle, and includes books in Latin, Greek, 

 English, French, German, Italian, Dutch, Rus- 

 sian, Danish, Spanish, Hungarian, Norwegian 

 and Portuguese. 



The mechanism of the origin of rain-clouds, 

 and the conditions of heavy rains and floods 

 on the northern slope of the Pyrenees, were 

 discussed by Marchand, Director of the Pic du 

 Midi Observatory, before the Congres du Sud- 

 Ouest Navigable, held at Bordeaux in June, 

 1902. The paper was printed in the proceed- 

 ings of that congress, and a German transla- 

 tion of a portion of the article, in the Meteor- 

 ologische Zeitschrift for June, 1905, makes this 

 interesting study accessible to the general 

 reader. 



Recent publications on the meteorology 

 of the free air are those of Teisserenc de 

 Bort, on the diurnal changes in temperature 

 (Comptes rendus, Vol. cxl., 1905, 467) and of 

 Hergesell, on the results obtained by means of 

 kites over the Mediterranean Sea and Atlantic 

 Ocean in 1904 (ihid., January 30, 1905). 



R. DeC. Ward. 



ANNUAL REPORT OF THE COUNCIL OF 



THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION FOR THE 



ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE. 



The annual report of the council for the 

 year 1904-5 states that the arrangements for 

 the meeting of the association in South Africa 

 had been directed, under the sanction of the 

 council, by a special South African committee, 

 sitting in London, and consisting of the gen- 

 eral officers of the association (the president 

 and president-elect, the general treasurer and 

 the general secretaries). Professor Armstrong, 

 Dr. Horace Brown, Sir William Crookes, Sir 



