Astronomy. 79 



ter, the water will ascend faster than the dye. Schonbein appears 

 to have been the first to turn this interesting phenomenon to 

 account in the laboratory. Among those Avho witnessed Schon- 

 bein's experiments in this field was the author of the present 

 volume. His paper is a treasury of data collected during a pro- 

 tracted investigation of this and allied matters. In a subsequent 

 notice we shall hope to give some of the more striking results 

 reached as regards plants, but we meanwhile desire to call the 

 attention of students of Biology to this important memoir, which 

 fills a long felt want. g. l. g. 



6. Plant Life of Alabama. An account of the Distribution, 

 modes of Association, and Adaptations of the Flora of Alabama, 

 together with a systematic Catalogue of the Plants growing in 

 the state by Charles Mohr, pp. 1-921, with portraits of the 

 author and of Thos. M. Peters. — As is stated also on the title 

 ]3age, this volume is a reprint of a volume published by the U. S. 

 Department of Agriculture, prepared in cooperation with the 

 Geological survey of Alabama. The Alabama edition presents 

 also a sketch of the life of Charles Mohr, prepared by Eugene 

 A. Smith, the State Geologist. w. 



IV. Astronomy. 



1. The Leonids in 1901. — The leonid shower was apparently 

 this year rather more pronounced than in the two previous years 

 and about as strong as that in 1898. Observations were secured 

 at the Yale Observatory on the nights of November 13, 14, 15 

 and 16, the latter three being clear throughout. The greatest 

 observed frequency occurred on November 14 at about 16 to 17 

 hours mean time, or on the morning of Friday, November 15, 

 civil reckoning, when a single observer noted about 50 per hour. 

 Photographic records were obtained of two leonids, one of them 

 at both the Observatory and a station 3 miles distant. This 

 meteor described an orbit very closely accordant with that of the 

 leonids in 1898. w. l. e. 



2. Leonids at Phoenix, Arizona ; by D. S. Landis, Observer, V 

 Weather Bureau. (Communicated.) — The leonids observed at 

 Phoenix, Arizona, showed to fine advantage on the morning of the 

 15th, owing to a perfectly clear sky. The greatest display 

 occurred about 5 a. m., local time. The showers were not constant, 

 but came at intervals of about two minutes. A bevy would 

 streak the sky for a few seconds, then the number would dwindle 

 away to a straggling few here and there, until another shower 

 would come on. Within ten minutes four profuse and distinct 

 showers were noted. 



Twenty leonids were counted within one minute flying over a 

 space checked off by a house top. The angle of descent seemed 

 to be about forty degrees from the perpendicular. The path of 

 translation was due northwest, except in cases where violent 

 explosion was apparent, causing deflection. In one instance an 



