122 Chronicles of Science. [Jan., 



1868 has just appeared, and it shows that Mr. Blanford is getting 

 his work well in hand, and gives a fair promise of future good 

 results. 



The next number of the ' Proceedings ' (No. 114) contains a 

 paper by Sir E. Sabine, " On the Eesults of the First Year's Per- 

 formances of the Photographically Self-recording Instruments at 

 Kew." The mean values for the several elements are compared with 

 those obtained by discussion of the observations for Nertschinsk 

 and Barnaoul, published by Kupffer, and the results are very 

 interesting, as showing the contrast between insular and conti- 

 nental climates. 



In connection with Siberia, we may notice that a brief account 

 of the climate of Sitka and the adjacent country is to be found in 

 vol. viii. of the ' Transactions of the Swedish Academy,' recently 

 published. It is in German, and is contained in a letter from Herr 

 Furuhjelm, of Helsingfors, who lived in that colony for many years. 

 Little was known of its climate before ; and what we now learn of 

 it shows that " Walrussia " is anything but an enviable place of 

 residence, owing to its excessive dampness. 



Professor Wild, the new Director of the Central Physical 

 Observatory at St. Petersburg, has lost no time in bringing out the 

 volume of * Annales' for 1865, the issue of which had been inter- 

 rupted since the death of Kupffer. He tells us in the preface that 

 a complete change will soon be made in the form and contents of 

 the publication. The metrical scale is to be at once introduced 

 throughout the empire, and the speedy adoption of self-recording 

 instruments is announced as probable. 



The Journal of the Austrian Meteorological Society contains a 

 very interesting account, by Abich, of two hail- storms experienced 

 at Tiflis in May last. The stones, which were of great size, 

 were crystallized in forms well known in mineralogy. How these 

 stones remained suspended in the air long enough for crystals 

 of such size and regularity to be formed is a question which Abich 

 does not attempt to solve. It is most fortunate that the occur- 

 rence came under the notice of so able a- mineralogist as he is, and 

 we hope that it will find its way into some of our geological 

 journals. The connection between meteorology and physical geo- 

 logy is close enough, but a bond of union between it and mineralogy 

 is at least unexpected. 



Herr von Freeden has brought out No. 2 of the ' Mittheilungen ' 

 of his office, the weather calendar for North-west Germany, being a 

 discussion of his own observations carried on for ten years at 

 Elsfleth, near Bremen. The whole treatment of the subject is very 

 thorough, and the paper is a most useful one, as a record of what 

 may be effected by a single observer keeping a registry for a long 



