852 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XXIII. No. 596. 



sign of paraphyses,' and Spaulding and von 

 Schrenk in describing the genus Glomerella 

 say that it is ' aparaphysate.' 



In some cultures of a Glososporium from 

 guavas the writer obtained an aseigerous stage 

 much like the one described for Glomerella 

 rufomaculans. The essential difierence no- 

 ticed at the time was the presence of para- 

 physes, which G. rufomaculans was not sup- 

 posed to have. The repeated occurrence of 

 paraphyses in the aseigerous stages obtained 

 from Glwosporiums and Colletotrichums, from 

 other sources besides the guavas, suggested 

 the possibility that G. rufomaculans might 

 also be paraphysate. Cultures of this fungus, 

 isolated from a Baldwin apple, produced peri- 

 thecia containing long, slender paraphyses, 

 apparently identical with those obtained from 

 the other cultures referred to. Besides the 

 paraphyses obtained by means of artificial 

 cultures, others were obtained when conidia of 

 a Glmosporium were inoculated into rose 

 canes ; they have also been found in peritheeia 

 growing naturally in the leaves of a species 

 of Dracaena. 



In general, the paraphyses from the differ- 

 ent sources were long, slender, tapering, and 

 more or less wavy. They were usually more 

 abundant at the time when the asci were de- 

 veloping, but were often present with the 

 mature asci. Like the asci, they were some- 

 what fugacious. _ TO. 



John L. Sheldon. 



West Virginia Agbicultubal 

 Experiment Station, 



MOBGANTOWN, W. VA. 



GVBBENT NOTES ON METEOROLOGY. 



KITE-FLYING OVER THE ATLANTIC. 



Eeference was recently made in these 

 ' Notes ' to some of the results of the investi- 

 gation carried out last summer over the North 

 Atlantic under the direction of Messrs. A. 

 Lawrence Rotch and Teisserenc de Bort. A 

 second report on this expedition is published 

 in Nature for March 8 and deals chiefly with 

 the kite results. Mr. H. H. Clayton's study 

 of the data collected in the tropics points to 

 the existence of three strata between sea level 

 and 4,000 meters. The trade, about 1,000 



meters in thickness, is damp; usually carries 

 cumulus or strato-cumulus clouds in its upper 

 portion, and varies between north and east in 

 direction. Above the surface trade is a cur- 

 rent about 2,000 meters in depth, varying be- 

 tween northeast and northwest, but coining 

 always from a direction to the left of the 

 lower wind when facing it. This second cur- 

 rent is very dry, and potentially warm, and its 

 velocity is usually much greater than that of 

 the lower wind. The third stratum begins at 

 a height of about 3,000 meters; comes from a 

 direction between east and south or southwest, 

 being generally from the east in equatorial 

 regions and from the south between latitudes 

 15° and 30° N. 



meteorologische zeitschrift. 

 The numbers for February and March of 

 the Meteorologische Zeitschrift contain ar- 

 ticles of special interest as follows : ' Cirrus 

 Studien,' a detailed study of cirrus move- 

 ments, by Professor Elein ; ' Der Pulsschlag 

 der Atmosphare,' by Hann, containing com- 

 ments on Dr. W. N. Shaw's recent article in 

 Nature, December 21, 1905; a very interest- 

 ing, unique, graphic representation, by S. 

 ZoUner, of the daily insolation in"" different 

 months and latitudes, undertaken at the sug- 

 gestion of von Bezold; a summary by Hann 

 of the meteorology of the north polar basin, 

 based on the results of the Nansen expedition ; 

 a further study of cirrus, especially of the 

 cirrus cap over cumulus, by M. Mbller ; a brief 

 discussion of the warm wave of January 20- 

 24 last, in the eastern United States, by Dr. 

 S. Hanzlik. 



CLEAN AIR AFTER THUNDERSTORM. 



In a recent number of Nature (March 22, 

 1906) Mr. John Aitken notes the effect of a 

 thunderstorm rain in bringing clean air. 

 While making some meteorological observa- 

 tions with his dust-counter on the Eiffel 

 Tower, at Paris, a heavy thunder-shower 

 occurred. Before the rain the number of 

 dust particles was large and showed that the 

 impure air of the city came up in great quan- 

 tities to the top of the tower. After the 

 shower the number of dust particles was so 



