48 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. X. No. 233 



be one of her greatest natural attractions stamped out in a few 

 months un,der her very eyes, — a work, that, when fully known, as 

 it will surely be, will pass down as one of the blackest pages in her 

 history ? A quarter of a century ago the writer was at Charlotte 

 Harbor himself, and well do I remember my unbounded enthusiasm 

 as my eyes first feasted upon the sight of a Floridian heronry : 

 many, many, species, represented by thousands upon thousands of 

 individuals, were ranged along the beaches, or covered the cypress 

 tops, where their nests were in hundreds. Never shall I forget 

 their lovely uniforms as they glistened in the soft atmosphere of 

 that sub-tropical land : some were snowy white, others a charming 

 blue, or warm chestnut, while, more beautiful than all, the won- 

 drous rosy tints of the spoonbills fairly shone in the bright sun- 

 light. 



Really I am sad as I see, only too vividly in my mind, the disgust- 

 ing slaughter that is now being perpetrated in their very midst. 

 Entire rookeries have been exterminated, and others reduced to a 

 few, very few, pairs of birds, now so wild and suspicious that it re- 

 quires the skill of the rifleman to capture them. 



R. W. Shufeldt. 



Fort Wingate, N.Mex., July 14. 



Tornado ' Powrer.' 



Referring to a communication by H. Allen Hazen, in Science 

 of July 8, entitled ' Theoretical Meteorology,' in which he states that 

 " theoretical meteorology most signally fails in its attempts to ex- 

 plain our most violent storms and tornadoes," and, " that the theory 

 that the sun's heat could start a vertical current, which, with the 

 condensation of moisture in the upper atmosphere would give rise 

 to winds of 200 to 300 miles per hour seems incredible," and " that 

 the attempt to meet the difficulties by suggesting ' great contrasts 

 in temperature,' ' meeting of warm southerly and cold northerly 

 winds,' etc., does not seem at all satisfactory," I would say that 

 there appears to be a disposition on the part of writers on scientific 

 subjects, more particularly as relates to meteorology, to sacrifice 

 common-sense reasoning and probable facts to profound but im- 

 probable theories, which, while they do, and are probably intended 

 to, fill the common mind with wonder at such amazing displays of 

 learning, are unsatisfactory and worthless from a practical scientific 

 standpoint. 



The attempt to prove that wind-velocity constitutes the ' power ' 

 of tornadoes always did and always will signally fail ; nor will it be 

 possible to convince any one who possesses a knowledge of meteor- 

 ology, that air-currents can be made to attain the several-thousand- 

 mile per hour velocity which would be required to effect the 

 results of tornado action. It is evident to the practical mind that 

 the suggestions referred to by Professor Hazen do not meet the 

 difficulties involved in explaining the violent character of these 

 phenomena, and it is equally evident that more satisfactory sug- 

 gestions concerning them have not been brought to, or received, his 

 intelligent attention. 



It has been claimed and shown that the ' power ' of tornadoes is 

 electrical, and it has been demonstrated that trees and twigs which 

 had been subjected to their action bore conclusive proof of this 

 fact. It is not known, however, that theories have been advanced 

 in explanation of the processes whereby the electric fluid is so 

 largely collected within the tornado-funnel, and herein is embodied 

 the object of this communication. 



The meeting of warm southerly and cold northerly winds, in the 

 southern quadrants of low-barometer areas, occasions great con- 

 trasts in humidity and temperature in a limited area, and it is well 

 known that these conditions are essential to a storm's development 

 and existence. Tornadoes and local storms are, in all instances, 

 subsidiary to extensive storm-systems, and invariably occur at the 

 point where, in accord with the laws governing the circulation of 

 wind in low-barometer areas, the warm and cold currents are 

 brought into opposition. A natural result of the meeting of warm 

 and cold masses of air would be the elevating of the former to 

 higher altitudes, if for no other reason than on account of their 

 relative specific gravity : the ascending currents would, on attaining 

 a proper elevation, precipitate their moisture, and the continual and 

 large inpouring of these opposing currents, in any given locality, 

 would intensify the elements of disturbance. It is conceded that 



the angle of contact of air-currents, to the south-eastward of the 

 centres of general storms, contributes to impart a rotary movement, 

 and ascending warm-air currents would naturally assume that 

 motion ; and, in the case of tornadoes and local storms, this whirl 

 is most marked at a distance from the earth's surface, or at the 

 point where the moisture in the ascending air is precipitated. That 

 this mass of revolving air is well charged with electricity is shown 

 by the heavy electrical discharges which are commonly observed 

 within its body and in its immediate vicinity. When, through its 

 whirling motion, or the electrical attraction offered by the earth, the 

 extremity of this generally low-lying cloud descends to the earth's 

 surface, there is formed a column of very moist air extending from 

 earth to cloud ; and, as moist air is one of the best known con- 

 ductors of electricity, and the earth is the great reservoir for the 

 electric fluid, the tornado-funnel furnishes the medium of communi- 

 cation by means of which the fluid may leave the earth, and the 

 collecting of vast quantities of both positive and negative electricity 

 within such confined limits would naturally give rise to tremendous 

 exhibitions of its power. 



Every observable feature of tornadoes shovifs them to be electri- 

 cal storms developed under unusually well-marked conditions. Their 

 action and results are essentially electric, but until the true nature 

 and composition of their mysterious element is known, the exact 

 formula of its action as the destructive agent of local storms cannot 

 be presented. We only know that under certain conditions it will 

 produce certain results. Its presence in tornadoes, in enormous 

 quantities, is shown, and its accountability for the destructiveness 

 of these energetic phenomena is claimed, to the almost total exclu- 

 sion of the wind-velocity theory, which is not only an improbable, 

 but, it is perfectly safe to say, an impossible one. This is a funda- 

 mental proposition established by actual results on the spot where 

 the ' power ' of these storms has manifested itself, and is deserving 

 of more consideration than has heretofore been accorded it. 



E. B. Garriatt. 



Signal Office, Washington, July 15. 



Theoretical Meteorology. 



There is no contradiction vv^hatever between page 5 1 and page 

 328 of ' Recent Advances in Meteorology.' My mind, also, re- 

 mains entirely unchanged with regard to the other matters in the 

 book referred to, by Mr. Hazen, in Science of July 8. There are, 

 however, some other parts of the work, which, after a lapse of 

 nearly three years since the first writing, I would be disposed to 

 amend, and even in some case^ correct, in a second writing. This 

 it is proposed to do in a forthcoming more popular wrork, so far as 

 it shall cover the same ground. W. Ferrel. 



Kansas City, July 13. 



Queries. 



10. Robin's Nest. — Is there any thing unusual in a robin's nest 

 built inside of a last year's nest, which in turn was built inside of a 

 nest now two years old, and that one inside of one three years old, 

 and so on, like the house that Jack built, until you have a pile of 

 nests fitting into one another and numbering ten ? Such a ten- 

 storied affair was found in Potsdam, N.Y., lately, the top story 

 being in use, while beside it on the same window-cap was another 

 pile of three nests. C. H. Leete. 



11. Lake Itasca. — There is one point in the controversy about 

 the name of Lake Itasca, of which I have often thought, but to 

 which I have not seen public attention directed. The priest who is 

 said to have suggested the name is represented to have been a 

 Latin scholar, and to have proposed a name which is intended to 

 signify the ' true source,' ver{itas ca)put. Now, I have never been 

 able to see how the words correspond to the idea. Caput will do 

 for ' source ; ' but Veritas is a noun and nothing else. The two 

 nouns cannot, therefore, mean what they are represented to mean, 

 or the Latin is not that of a classical scholar. Veritin caput might 

 mean the ' true source,' not, however, Veritas caput. If there is 

 any other explanation of the case than that the good priest was 

 caught napping in his Latin, I should like to see it in print. 



C. W. Super. 



Athens, C, July 11. 



