106 MB ROBERT C. MOSSMAN ON THE METEOROLOOY OF 



shows a distinct seasonal variation, being at a maximum in winter and a minimum in 

 summer, while the pressure, cloud, and humidity curves are directly the reverse of this. 

 Temperature is comparatively low for the latitude. Coming 8 degrees south we 

 have the station of Evangelists Island : here also there is a very considerable precipita- 

 tion, but with a maximum in summer and a minimum in winter, not, however, showing 

 anything like the seasonal range of the northern stations. The climate is essentially 

 insular and the summer temperature very low owing to the prevalence of the cool on- 

 shore north-west winds, which blow with great force. Passing now to the Atlantic side, 

 we find a great diminution of rainfall, most pronounced at inland stations such as 

 Sandy Point (Punta Arenas) and Ushuaia. Here the temperature shows much greater 

 amplitude than at the coastal stations, and is essentially of the continental type— - 

 higher in summer and lower in winter — in harmony with the conditions prevailing in 

 the interior of the Argentine provinces of Santa Cruz and Chubut. Another marked 

 feature of this region is the low relative humidity and the small cloud amount, due 

 to the prevailing winds having been deprived of much of their moisture by the 

 mountainous region lying to the west. With regard to coastal and island stations on 

 the Atlantic side, a very small difference in latitude makes a very great difference in 

 climatic conditions. Staten Island, New Year's Island, and Orange Bay have all a 

 considerable rainfall, much cloud and humidity, with a low and equable temperature ; 

 but at Dungeness, on the Atlantic side of the straits, the rainfall is very much less, the 

 skies are clearer, the air drier, and the temperature varies much more than at the 

 island stations. These contrasts become much sharper as we proceed northwards along 

 the Atlantic coast, where the influence of the warm Brazil current is strikingly apparent. 

 Passing next to the Falkland Islands, we find a strictly oceanic climate, viz. strong 

 winds, equable temperature, and a moderate rainfall, which last, however, is probably 

 much greater on the West Falklands than at Cape Pembroke, the station here quoted. 

 A noticeable feature here is the large amount of sunshine recorded. Between the 

 Falklands and South Georgia, which lies only 2 degrees to the south, but some 22 

 degrees to the east, a great difference is found. Here the influence of the Antarctic 

 drift makes itself felt, the mean annual temperature being 8 degrees lower than at Cape 

 Pembroke or at Staten Island. However, as regards sunshine and wind force, the 

 two stations are almost identical. At the South Orkneys the influence of the Antarctic 

 •drift is for the first time the predominant factor affecting climate. Here, in the low 

 latitude of 61° S., the mean summer temperature is below freezing point, while in the 

 winter readings below - 40° have been recorded. Perhaps the most striking example 

 of the effect of the Antarctic drift on the climatic conditions in low latitudes as compared 

 with the North Polar regions occurs during summer. At this season the isotherm of 

 34° between the long, of 10° E. and 50° W. nowhere protrudes further south than 

 58° S., and falls to about 52° to the east of the meridian of Greenwich. The most 

 southerly extension of this isotherm in the Arctic is in latitude 74° N., long. 16° W., 

 while to the north of Spitzbergen it lies in latitude 81° N., long. 10° E. Thus on 



