164 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. IV. No. 84. 



' dead valleys' of the plain, once occupied 

 by larger streams ; the warping of valleys 

 to produce lakes — these and many other 

 topics are most acceptably treated. 



REPORT OF THE LONDON GEOGRAPHICAL CON- 

 GRESS. 



A VOLUME of almost a thousand pages, 

 edited by Dr. Mill, now presents in full and 

 in the original language the papers read at 

 the Sixth International Geographical Con- 

 gress in London last summer (Murray, 

 1896). The volume is so large, and so 

 much mention was made of the proceed- 

 ings of the Congress in current journals, 

 that an abstract of the Eeport is now 

 neither possible nor necessary. The ac- 

 count by Levasseur of the status of geo- 

 graphical instruction in France is of much 

 value as illustrative of a highly formu- 

 lated system. Penck presents his geomor- 

 phological nomenclature, in which he in- 

 troduces the idea of stage of development, 

 but hardly extends it as far as seems desirable 

 to many, some of his fundamental forms 

 being the products of erosion. On the 

 whole, physiographical problems attracted 

 little attention alongside of subjects of 

 greater popular interest, such as polar ex- 

 ploration, or the habitability of Africa by 

 the white race. Lallemand, director of gen- 

 eral levellings in France, makes the fol- 

 lowing surprising statement, displacing a 

 view supposed to be orthodox : The in- 

 equality of level between the Mediterranean 

 and the Atlantic, determined by former 

 French and Spanish levels, and explained 

 by the different densities in the two bodies, 

 does not exist; the illusory results being 

 due to systematic errors of early observa- 

 tions, and to the superficial character of the 

 observations made on the salinity of sea 

 water. Whether the density currents at 

 the Strait of Gibraltar must also be given 

 up is not told. W. M. Davis. 



Habvakd Univeesity. 



CURRENT NOTES ON 3IETE0R0L0GY. 

 RELATIVE HUMIDITY OF NEW ENGLAND. 



Bulletin No. 19 of the Weather Bureau 

 is a Rejoort on the Relative Humidity of Southern 

 New England and other Localities, by A. J. 

 Henry. The investigation, the results of 

 which are now published, was undertaken 

 in order to ascertain how the humidity con- 

 ditions of the South compare with those of 

 New England and other places where cot- 

 ton is manufactured, cotton manufacture, 

 as is well known, being to a considerable 

 extent dependent on the humidity of the at- 

 mosphere. It appears that hitherto in the 

 development of the cotton manufacturing 

 industry but little account has been taken 

 of climatic conditions as affecting the quan- 

 tity or quality of the output, and that the 

 control of temperature and humidity by 

 artificial means is the final solution of the 

 problem when the establishment of mills in 

 a relatively dry section is contemplated. 



PROTECTION FROM FROST. 



The Weather Bureau has issued a short 

 pamphlet entitled Injury from Frost and 

 Methods of Protection (Weather Bureau No. 

 86,) by Hammoh. The formation of frosts ; 

 the best locations for orchards or gardens 

 to avoid injury by frost ; the methods of 

 protection and times when protection is 

 needed, are considered. 



TORNADOES IN TEXAS, MAY 12 AND 15. 



During the spring a number of destructive 

 tornadoes were recorded in our Southern 

 and Western States. The local tornadoes 

 which occurred in northern Texas on May 

 12 and 15 are described by Cline in Special 

 Bulletin No. 8 of the Texas Climate and 

 Crop Service. On May 12 two distinct tor- 

 nadoes occurred, and on May 15 four were 

 noted. The usual phenomena accompanied 

 the disturbances. 



E. De C. Ward. 



Haevaed Univeesity. 



