650 



SGIENGE. 



[N. S. Vol. LV. No. 96. 



THE MAN IN THE MOON. 



In the Correspondenz-Blatt for July, of 

 the German Anthropological Society, E. 

 Behla has a curious study on the notions of 

 various peoples as to what we see in the 

 moon. These notions are strangely diver- 

 gent. In most European nations there is a 

 fancy that in the full moon there are the 

 features of a human face, and hence the 

 tales about ' the man in the moon.' 



On the other hand, very widely through- 

 out Asia, in both Aryan and Mongolian 

 folklore, not a human being, but a hare, or 

 rabbit, is believed to be seen, sitting on his 

 haunches, in the orb of the moon. This 

 also recurs among the Mexican Aztecs, 

 though in South America again, among 

 some Brazilian tribes, the man in the moon 

 reappears. 



In English and the Eomance languages 

 the moon is regarded as feminine, as was 

 also the case among the Semites; but in 

 German it is a masculine noun. This is 

 usually the case among savage tribes, and 

 often with them the sun is female, the wife 

 or sister of the moon, and his inferior. 



Behla adds some words on the importance 

 of a more thorough comparative study of 

 superstitions regarding the moon than we 

 have at present. D. G. Brinton. 



Univeesity of Pennsylvania. 



CURRENT NOTES ON METEOROLOGY. 

 ATMOSPHERIC ELECTRICITY AND TELEPHONES. 



An interesting paper by Trabert, on the 

 crackling of the telephone on the Sonnblick, 

 appears in the Fourth Eeport of the Sonn- 

 blick Verein. The Sonnblick, it may be 

 stated, is one of the best known mountain 

 observatories in the world, by reason of its 

 height' (10,154 ft.), and especially by rea- 

 son of the valuable results which have been 

 derived by Hann and others from the ob- 

 servations there made. For six years five 

 observations a day have been made of the 



intensity of the crackling in the telephone 

 at the summit. It appears from these data 

 that in December the minimum crackling 

 is at noon, with the maximum at 9 p. m., 

 and a secondary maximum at 7 a. m., while 

 in June there is a steady increase in the 

 intensity of the noise from 7 a. m. to 9 p. 

 m., without a noon minimum. The other 

 months of winter and summer follow re- 

 spectively the same rule as December and 

 June, while the intermediate months, as 

 expected, present the intermediate condi- 

 tions. Further, the noise is greater in sum- 

 mer than in winter. Eegarding the ex- 

 planation of these phenomena, the author 

 finds it chiefly in the presence of atmos- 

 pheric electricity in the clouds over the 

 Sonnblick, for there is a very striking cor- 

 respondence between the crackling and the 

 cloudiness on the summit, not only in the 

 diurnal period, but in the annual as well. 

 The days on which there is the greatest in- 

 tensity of crackling are almost invariably 

 distinguished by cloudiness, rain, snow or 

 thunderstorms. The part played by earth 

 currents must not be overlooked, for on one 

 cloudless anticyclonic day there was a very 

 well marked crackling, which could not be 

 explained as being due to atmospheric elec- 

 tricity. 



WEATHER FORECASTS SEVERAL DAYS IN 

 ADVANCE. 



An elementary discussion of the controls 

 of the weather of central Europe, with sug- 

 gestions as to weather forecasts for several 

 days in advance, has recently been issued 

 by Dr. van Bebber. It is entitled Die Beur- 

 theilung des Wetter s auf mehrere Tage im Voraus 

 (Stuttgart, Enke, 1896). Five principal 

 weather types are considered, depending 

 chiefly on the position of the areas of high 

 pressure. The weather conditions which 

 these types usually bring are described, and 

 the increased or decreased frequency of the 

 types at different seasons is noted. The 



