— 14 — 



The relative humidity is given by Ficker, from a yearly 

 average for all the stations, as 61 per ct. In Table 1 will be 

 found the averages for each month at 3 different times of 

 the day. It must be remembered, however, that these figures 

 are taken on an oasis where the degree of saturation must 

 be greater than in the desert. Olufsen records (1901 pp. 12 — 13) 

 from various places (Merw, Buchara, Kona Urgentsh) relative 

 humidities of 13 — 19 per ct. 



On account of the heat and dryness in Transcaspia 

 during summer it is natural that evaporation must be very 

 great. According to Semenow (p. 128) evaporation is 3 times 

 greater than precipitation in Tashkent and Samarkand, 4 times 

 in Ferghana, 24 times in Nukus, and 270 times in Petro 

 Alexandrowsk. Nukus and Petro Alexandrowsk lie south of 

 the Aral Sea not far apart, and obviously local influences 

 have to be reckoned with here. 



The figures in Table 2 show the amount of evaporation 

 and its relation to precipitation. For the daily evaporation 

 per month we find amongst others a table in Mushketow 

 p. 508 taken from Stelling, and another in Schwarz p. 572. 



As a result of the evaporation being much greater than 

 the pi-ecipitation, the country is becoming drier and drier. 

 Schwarz (p. 578) proves that the Syr Darya, the Aral Sea 

 and other lakes are continually decreasing. According 

 to some calculations the Aral Sea sinks 7 metres, according 

 to others 4,2 metres in the course of a century, and Schwarz 

 is of opinion that Turkestan is in process of being irretriev- 

 ably ruined on account of scarcity of water. Buchara is 

 already on the verge of ruin because Samarkand, which lies 

 higher up the Serafshan river, uses all the water available. 



BoRSZczow is also of opinion that the drying up of Trans- 

 caspia is increasing, while Baer has come to the conclusion 

 that there is now a condition of balance. As regards the 

 Aral Sea, Berg points out (1908 p. 374), that the water-level 

 is changing, and that at the present time it is rising after a 

 minimum in 1880. 



Comments on Table 1. This table gives meteorological 

 data from three stations: Tashkent (comparatively cold and 



