354 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXV. No. 635 



as in the case of plants, the organisms spe- 

 cially adapted to continual sunshine — the 

 desert fauna — seem to be absent from pre- 

 pleistocene deposits. Horned toads, Gila 

 monsters and animals of similar habits were 

 not then in evidence, so far as the writer is 

 aware. 



In any case, the postulates for a sunless 

 existence of prepleistocene beings are not 

 greater, if as great, as those involved in 

 Chamberlin's hypothesis of a materially great- 

 er, or less, content of carbonic dioxid in the 

 atmosphere. 



It does seem to the writer that unless it 

 can be shown that the temperature prevailing 

 at the beginning of the glacial epoch could 

 not have been high enough to maintain a 

 cloud envelope, Hanson's theory as outlined 

 above must be considered the most probable 

 among those that have heretofore been sug- 

 gested, as fulfilling both qualitatively and 

 quantitatively the postulates of the great ice 

 age; not excluding, of course, the probable 

 influence of the agencies claimed by Arrhenius 

 and Chamberlin as the chief ones, but which 

 appear to the writer to be inadequate to ac- 

 count for the phenomena in actual evidence. 



E. W. HiLGABD 



University of California, 

 January, 1907 



CURRENT NOTES ON METEOROLOGY 

 WINDS ON THE PEAK OF TENEEIFFE 



The controversy regarding the direction of 

 the upper winds in the vicinity of the Cape 

 Verde and Canary Islands has prompted Hann 

 to bring together (Met. Zeitschr., Dec, 1906) 

 the published observations of wind direction 

 on the summit of the Peak of Tenerifie (Lat. 

 28° 49' K; Long. 16° W., altitude 12,1Y2 feet). 

 The conclusion is as follows : the S. W. and W. 

 wind which is very often observed above 3,000 

 meters, even in summer, is certainly not a 

 local wind, but belongs to the upper mem- 

 bers of the general atmospheric circulation. 

 The E". E. trade occasionally blows on the top 

 of the peak, at least in summer. The mean 

 direction of cirrus clouds in winter is W. by 

 S. The N. W. winds observed by Hergesell 



in summer in the vicinity of the Canary Is- 

 lands were probably connected with the then 

 location of the subtropical high-pressure area 

 of the North Atlantic Ocean. The map of 

 isobars at 4,000 meters (Teisserenc de Bort) 

 shows, in July, the center of the maximum 

 somewhat N. W. of the Canaries, so that north- 

 erly winds at 4 km. above sea-level would not 

 be contradictory to the pressure distribution. 

 According to the interesting observations of 

 temperature and humidity made by Hergesell 

 in the free air above the anticyclone, the latter 

 may extend to greater altitudes than has thus 

 far been assumed. More constant equatorial 

 currents are to be expected over the West 

 Indies and Central America in the same lati- 

 tudes. 



climatology of the united states 

 ' The Climatology of the United States,' by 

 Professor A. J. Henry (Bull. Q, U. S. 

 Weather Bureau, 4to, 1906, pp. 1012, Pis. 34, 

 Figs. 7), is one of the most important publica- 

 tions of our Weather Bureau. The need of a 

 compact summary of the essential climato- 

 logical data for the United States has long 

 been felt. Hitherto these tabulations have 

 been scattered through various annual reports 

 of the chief of the Weather Bureau. Since 

 Loren Blodget's famous classic, ' The Clima- 

 tology of the United States' (1857) there has 

 been no attempt to collect into one volume, 

 and to discuss, the mass of climatological ma- 

 terial collected by our official and voluntary 

 observers. The data in this volume cover, 

 generally speaking, the period 1870-1893. 

 There is a discussion, satisfactory on the 

 whole, of the climates of the United States in 

 general (84 pages), illustrated by a consider- 

 able number of maps. This is the portion of 

 the book which will be most generally used, 

 and it will serve its purpose well. A long 

 series of tables follows, in such form that they 

 can easily be referred to by those who wish 

 detailed information. At the end, occupying 

 the larger part of the volume, come condensed 

 summaries for the different states. The ad- 

 vertised price of the book is $10, which is 

 much too high if the volume is to find its way 



