596 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XVII. No. 432. 



from a brief enumeration of a portion of its 

 contents, e. g., new barometric reduction 

 tables for reductions between any two planes 

 within the elevations from sea level to 10,000 

 feet; the construction of temperature gra- 

 dients in latitude, longitude and altitude for 

 all stations of the United States; the com- 

 putation of the vapor ten,sion on the sea 

 level, the 3,500-foot and the 10,000-foot planes ; 

 the constriiction of charts of pressure, tem- 

 perature and vapor tension for each month and 

 the year on the three planes just mentioned; 

 the preparation of special station tables for 

 the practical work of reducing the observa- 

 tions to sea level, to the 3,500-foot plane, 

 and the 10,000-foot plane for the daily weather 

 maps; the compilation of tables giving the 

 normal values of the pressures, temperatures 

 and vapor pressures at the stations and on 

 the three planes. The volume is one of the 

 most important publications of the United 

 States Weather Service since its establish- 

 ment. 



METEOEOriOGICAL OBSERVATIONS IN BOSNIA. 



In the Meteorologische Zeitschrift for Jan- 

 uary, Hann discusses the observations (1895- 

 1901) made at the observatory on Bjelasnica, 

 a mountain 2,067 meters high in Bosnia — in- 

 teresting because it is situated further to the 

 southeast than any high-level station in 

 Europe. The pressure, as in the case of all 

 .mountains in the Temperate Zone, rises con- 

 siderably from winter to summer. The win- 

 ters are abnormally cold, even as compared 

 with the mountain stations in somewhat higher 

 latitudes, the explanation undoubtedly being 

 that Bjelasnica lies on the south or south- 

 east of the winter barometric maximum over 

 the Alps, and consequently its winds are 

 north, northeast or east. The frequent in- 

 versions of temperature, and the bright dry 

 days, which characterize the Alps in winter, 

 and help so much to produce the remarkable 

 winter climate of many of the higher Alpine 

 stations, are conspicuous by their absence on 

 Bjelasnica. Very remarkable frost forma- 

 tions are observed in winter, rivaling those 

 of Ben Nevis and the Brocken, which have 

 often been described and photographed. On 



February 20, 1902, for example, the frost 

 needles reached a maximum length of 2.8 

 meters, after a growth of three days with 

 light southerly winds; a mean temperature 

 of 26°. 6, and a mean relative humidity of 93 

 per cent. Several needles over three meters 

 long broke off partly by their own weight, 

 and partly because of the wind. To the 

 neighborhood of the Adriatic Sea these ex- 

 traordinary frost formations are due, as, in 

 the case of the Brocken and of Ben Nevis, 

 they are due to the proximity of the Atlantic 

 Ocean. 



HIGH WINDS ON THE PACIFIC COAST. 



High winds are not commonly associated 

 with Pacific Coast meteorology. Hence an 

 account of some high-wind records on that 

 coast, in the Annual Report of the California 

 Climate and Crops, is of interest. These re- 

 cords were made at the new Weather Bureau 

 station at Point Reyes Light (lat. 38° 12' IST., 

 long. 122° 51' W.). On February 23-25, 

 1902, during a ' severe southeast disturbance ' 

 along the coast of California, velocities up to 

 100 miles an hour were observed. On March 

 1 the wind blew for a few minutes at the rate 

 of 107 miles an hour. Between May 15 and 

 20, 1902, with a marked depression over the 

 Mexican boundary and the valley of the Colo- 

 rado, the maximum wind velocity was at the 

 rate of 110 miles an hour. 



R. DeC. Ward. 



SCIENTIFIC POSITIONS UNDER THE 



GOVERNMENT. 



The civil service commission announces a 

 number of examinations for positions in the 

 sc"ientific service of the government. On 

 April 21 and 22, there will be an examination 

 for the position of aid in the Coast and Geo- 

 detic Survey, the age limit being from 18 to 

 25 years, and the salary $750 and traveling 

 expenses. There are twelve vacancies to be 

 filled by this examination. 



On May 5 there is an examination for the 

 position of computer for nutrition investiga- 

 tions in the Office of Experiment Stations, at 

 a salary ranging from $720 to $l,00a 



