SCIENCE 



FRIDAY, OCTOBER 12, 1888. 



The sundry civil appropriation bill, passed by Congress, 

 has finally been signed by the President, and the grants of money 

 it makes have become available. Among these is one of a hun- 

 dred thousand dollars, to enable the United States Geological Sur- 

 vey to begin an inquiry in regard to the feasibility of reclaiming the 

 arid lands of the Far West. The sum is not as large as might be 

 profitably used for this purpose, but it will enable a beginning to be 

 made and an organization of the work to be effected. The amount 

 of progress that may be made between now and July, 18S9, is 

 much less important than the determination reached by the gov- 

 ernment to enter upon this great work. This has not been hastily 



SCIENTIFIC NEWS IN WASHINGTON. 



The Cuban Hurricane. —Tree-Growth on Arid Lands: Forests have 

 Liltle Effect upon Climate : They do promote Agriculture. 



The Cuban Hurricane. 



Mr. Everett Hayden of the Hydrographic Office, whose visit 

 to Cuba for the purpose of studying West Indian hurricanes has 

 been mentioned in a previous number of Science, reports to the 

 Hydrographic Office that upon his arrival at Havana he placed 

 himself in communication with the Rdo. Padre Benito Vines, of 

 the Observatory of the Real Colegio de Belen, who has done every 

 thing in his power to facilitate his work. Assisted by this eminent 

 meteorologist, Mr. Hayden immediately began the investigation of 

 the great hurricane that caused such destruction in the island of 



TRACK OF THE CUBAN HURRICAN 



done, or without a full comprehension of the ultimate magnitude 

 of the undertaking, or of the vast possibilities involved in it. The 

 subject was very ably discussed, both in the Senate and House of 

 Representatives, and, what is very remarkable, the debates took 

 place at a time when the political excitement that pervaded both 

 bodies was so great as almost to preclude the consideration of any 

 new question of as great importance as this. It may not be that 

 the amount of land that can be reclaimed from present worthless- 

 ness, and converted into rich agricultural lands, will equal in extent 

 the entire area now under cultivation in the United States, as Major 

 Powell has estimated ; but. if one-half of this result is realized, the 

 wealth of the country will be increased as it never has been in- 

 creased before. Homes will be provided for additional millions of 

 industrious people, and the amount of the natural products of the 

 country will be increased almost beyond our present comprehen- 

 sion. It is an appreciation of these facts that causes us to con- 

 sider the determination of the government to enter upon this great 

 enterprise as the most important public business of the present 

 year. 



Cuba from the 3d to the 5th of September. One of the first fea- 

 tures, and probably the most remarkable, noticed, was the excep- 

 tional and wholly unexpected change of direction in the onward 

 movement of the cyclone on the night of the 4th, from about west 

 by north to the south of west. Such a marked departure from the 

 paths usually followed by these storms in low latitudes at once ex- 

 cited the curiosity both of Padre Vifies and the Hydrographic Office. 

 The cause of this phenomenon seems to have been the presence, 

 not far to the eastward, of another well-defined hurricane, which 

 apparently exerted a marked influence upon the first and more vio- 

 lent one. This influence was shown in a variety of ways, but the 

 details of its operation are still a subject of some uncertainty. Ac- 

 cording to Viiies, two barometric depressions, starting at about the 

 same lime and in the same neighborhood, exert a repellent influence 

 upon one another in the upper currents. The reason assigned is, 

 that the air, after rushing to the centre of the cyclone, rises rapidly, 

 as in a sort of funnel, and when the top is reached (i.e., when, 

 having reached an atmosphere of its own temperature, there is no 

 longer a tendency to rise) the currents flow radially outward towards 

 the circumference of the cyclonic area ; and, when two depressions 

 are near enough, these upper currents will meet and repel each 



