Februaky 12, 1897.] 



SCIENCE. 



265 



Atlas the nimbus and the strato-cumulus 

 are placed together under the heading 

 Lower Clouds, and their average height is 

 given as about 6,600 feet, or considerably 

 over a mile, while the Blue Hill measure- 

 ments make the height of the nimbus less 

 than half a mile. The more the future 

 of kite meteorology is considered, the more 

 numerous do the opportunities seem to be- 

 come in which kites will be of great ser- 

 A'ice. This measurement of cloud heights 

 by means of kites is certainly one of the 

 most important uses to which they have 

 yet been put. 



FOG POSSIBILITIES. 



In a short article under the title Fog Pos- 

 sibilities, in Harper's Monthly Magazine for 

 January, McAdie regards it as a possibility 

 of the future that fogs will be dispelled by 

 artificial means. Lodge has shown by his 

 experiments that the dust in the air, which 

 is of such importance in fog and cloud for- 

 mation, can be removed by electrification. 

 The fog may be dissipated by gentle elec- 

 trification, which increases the size of the 

 dust particles until they settle, or by strong 

 electrical discharges, which scatter and pre- 

 •cipitate the particles. McAdie believes 

 that " fog dispellers might be placed upon 

 war ships, ferry boats and at all terminal 

 depots and crowded thoroughfares." " We 

 •cart away," he says, " from our busiest 

 streets the snow or solidified vapor of the 

 air. Is it not better economy to attempt 

 the conquest of the water vapor in another 

 form?" 



INTERNATIONAL BALLOON METEOROLOGY. 



Commenting on the subject of balloon 

 meteorology, M. de Fonvielle, in a recent 

 letter to the editor of Science, says : " It 

 should be deeply regretted if your great 

 nation should not join in these experiments, 

 which are executed in a friendly spirit by 

 three fractions of the European family 



which are not always in harmony on the 

 surface of the earth. * * * One important 

 fact seems to result from all the experiments 

 tried in France. When the balloon reaches 

 a high altitude, 30,000 feet, at least, it is 

 sure to be discovered in some locality east- 

 ward from the Paris meridian. This obser- 

 vation, which is * * sufBciently well estab- 

 lished, gives a warning against the execution 

 of these experiments from the eastern coast 

 of the Atlantic. Neither N"ew York, Phila- 

 delphia nor Washington are to be selected 

 as a proper starting point. St. Louis should 

 be eligible and a lot of other cities. The 

 same might be said of any place west of the 

 Rocky Mountains, especially of any place 

 selected in California, as the Mt. Hamilton 

 Observatory." 



R. DeC. Ward. 

 Haevaed TJniveesity. 



CUBBENT NOTES ON ANTHBOPOLOGY. 

 THE shell gorgets OF NORTH AMERICA. 



The study of this interesting class of an- 

 tiquities is aided by the description of one 

 from Mexico by Professor Frederick Starr 

 in the ' Proceedings ' of the Davenport 

 Academy, Vol. VI. It was found in the 

 State of Michoacan, and a cut of it is in- 

 serted. Many points of similarity are noted 

 between it and those from Tennessee, Geor- 

 gia and Missouri, described by Holmes and 

 Thruston. These are sufficient, in Professor 

 Starr's opinion, to afBliate the Mexican 

 example to those of the Mississippi Valley as 

 members of one and the same art-develop- 

 ment. 



The possibility that these objects might 

 have been carried as articles of trade from 

 one region to another is considerable. The 

 finding of one or several in a spot does not 

 of necessity infer the identity of culture. 

 The motives are Aztecan, but, unless sup- 

 ported by other indications of that peculiar 

 school of design, it is more likely they were 

 ' intrusive ' objects. 



