75 



other. It is said that his opinion is shared by Professor Cleveland 

 Abbe, the first weather forecaster of the federal government and 

 Professor W. J. Humphreys, of Johns Hopkins University, 

 and practically all meteorologists who have taken the trouble to 

 look into the matter. The claim is made that drouths and ex- 

 cessive rain, as well as prolonged departures from the normal tem- 

 peratures of a region, are due to eccentricities in the distribution 

 of atmospheric pressure ; these eccentricities of air pressure are 

 traced back to the interchange of atmosphere between the equa- 

 torial and polar regions, the routes and intensity of the great 

 currents undergoing more or less modification from time to time. 

 These arguments lead Professor Moore to say that the causes of 

 climatic change are general, not local ; and he vigorously attacks 

 the widely-accepted statement that removal of forests can di- 

 minish the rainfall. The instances on record of lessened precipi- 

 tation after a particular area has been cleared he regards as 

 mere coincidences, which will be proven to show no forest con- 

 nection if observatian is continued for a sufficiently long period. 

 No other meteorological phenomenon, it is said, is so variable as 

 rainfall, and any one who studies the figures for too short an in- 

 terval is likely to be deceived. 



Botanists, however, will not accept readily this coincidence 

 theory and a lively discussion will doubtless follow the publi- 

 cation of this report. 



NEWS ITEMS 



Dr. Carlton C. Curtis has been advanced from assistant pro- 

 fessor to associate professor of botany and Dr. Tracy E. Hazen 

 from instructor to assistant professor of botany in Columbia 

 University. 



Professor Charles Fay Wheeler, expert in charge of the eco- 

 nomic gardens. Bureau of Plant Industry, United States Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture, since 1902, died March 5. Professor 

 Wheeler was formerly instructor in the Michigan Agricultural 

 College, and consulting botanist for the Michigan Experiment 

 Station. 



