338 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. V. No. 113. 



ecuted, for a limited number of maps, be- 

 comes inadequate when several hundred 

 copies have to be struck off. As a result 

 of experiments, Mr. J. W. Smith, local 

 forecast official of the AVeather Bureau at 

 Boston, Mass., suggested what is known as 

 the chalk-plate printing process. It is as 

 follows : A thin covering of specially pre- 

 pared chalk (^ in. in thickness) is spread 

 upon a steel plate of the size of the prospec- 

 tive weather map. On this chalk are en- 

 graved, by means of suitable instruments, 

 the various weather symbols, the isobaric 

 and isothermal lines, etc. The plate is then 

 stereotyped in the ordinary way. In addi- 

 tion to the weather map proper, there is, of 

 course, a considerable amount of printed 

 matter, such as the forecast, summary, the 

 table of instrumental readings, etc. This 

 textual portion is made up by the use of 

 logotypes, consisting of words, figures and 

 phrases in which the different letters and 

 figures are joined together in one solid piece 

 of type to facilitate the work of setting up. 

 Thus, when the word ' fair ' or ' cloudy ' 

 has to be used, it is not necessary to set up 

 the individual letters forming the word, but 

 only to select the logotype which prints the 

 word. After the text of the map is set up 

 in logotypes, it is locked up with the stereo- 

 type map plate, and the whole is printed at 

 one impression on a sheet prepared for the 

 purpose, which has a blank outline map of 

 the United States at the top, on which the 

 weather map is printed, and space in the 

 lower half of the sheet for the text and ta- 

 bles. The chalk-plate process map is in 

 every way a great improvement on the sten- 

 cil map which it has superseded. It is 

 smaller, more convenient to handle, more 

 legible and more attractive. A minute study 

 of our daily weather maps is now a distinct 

 pleasure, whereas formerly it was often a 

 difficult task to attempt to puzzle out the 

 faint lines, words and figures, which were 

 too fi-equently barely legible. The size of 



the chalk-plate map itself is 10 x 6^ inches, 

 and of the whole sheet, which includes also 

 the text and tables, 16x11 inches. The 

 first map made by this process issued from 

 any Weather Bureau station was sent out 

 from Boston on February 29, 1896. Since 

 then the system has been extended as rap- 

 idly as possible to the other stations, and 

 at the present time 21 stations issue chalk- 

 plate maps. These are as follows : Boston, 

 Mass.; Cleveland and Columbus, O.; In- 

 dianapolis, Ind.; Raleigh, If. C; Nashville, 

 Tenn.; Chicago, 111.; Baltimore, Md.; Phila- 

 delphia, Pa.; New York and Buffalo, N. Y.; 

 Milwaukee, Wis.; Galveston, Tex.; Louis- 

 ville, Ky.; Little Rock, Ark.; Montgomery, 

 Ala.; New Orleans, La.; Denver, Colo.; Lin- 

 coln, Neb.; Minneapolis, Minn. 



PRIZES FOE SCHOOL WORK IN METEOROLOGY. 



It is worthy of note in these columns 

 that a definite step has been taken towards 

 encouraging and systematizing school work 

 in meteorology in the New England States. 

 On the dissolution of the New England Me- 

 teorological Society, in 1896, a sum of 

 money was left in tlie hands of a commit- 

 tee, to be used ' for some meteorological 

 purposes.' The committee now offers three 

 annual prizes, of twelve, ten and eight dol- 

 lars, for the best work on weather and cli- 

 mate in any New England school below 

 the high school, under certain conditions. 

 The papers and record books sent in, in 

 competition for the prizes, are to be wholly 

 the work of the pupils whose names they 

 bear, and all records are to be the result of 

 the pupils' own observations. The com- 

 mittee suggests the following topics as ap- 

 propriate subjects for such work : (1) 

 Observation and record of simple weather 

 elements. (2) Preparation of weather 

 maps based on data supplied by the 

 teacher. (3) The use of weather maps 

 and of local observations in simple weather 

 predictions. (4) Special observation and 

 study of the elements that control the cli- 



