450 



SCIENCE 



[Vol. V., No. 121. 



in the broadest way, mean that the sun is blue, but 

 mean a great deal more than that ; this blueness in it- 

 self being, perhaps, a curious fact only, but, in what it 

 implies, of practical moment. We deduce in connec- 

 tion with it a new value of the solar heat, so far alter- 

 ing the old estimates, that we now find it capable of 

 melting a shell of ice sixty yards thick annually over 

 the whole earth, or, what may seem more intelligible 

 in its practical bearings, of exerting over one-horse 

 power for each square yard of the normally exposed 

 surface. We have studied the distribution of this 

 heat in a spectrum whose limits on the normal scale 

 our explorations have carried to an extent of rather 

 more than twice what was previously known, and we 

 have found that the total loss by absorption from the 

 atmosphere is nearly double what has been hereto- 

 fore supposed. We have found it probable that the 

 human race owes its existence and preservation to 

 the heat-storing action of the atmosphere even more 

 than has been believed. 



The direct determination of the effect of water- 

 vapor in this did not come within our scope; but that 

 the importance of the blanketing action of our atmos- 

 pheric constituents has been in no way over-stated, 

 may be inferred when I add that we have found by 

 our experiments, that, if the planet were allowed to 

 radiate freely into space, without any protecting veil, 

 its sunlit surface would probably fall, even in the 

 tropics, below the temperature of freezing mercury. 



I will not go on enumerating the results of these 

 investigations; but they all flow from the fact, which 

 they in turn confirm, that this apparently limpid sea 

 above our heads, and about us, is carrying on a won- 

 derfully intricate work on the sunbeam, and on the 

 heat returned from the soil, picking out selected 

 parts in hundreds of places, sorting out incessantly 

 at a task which would keep the sorting demons of 

 Maxwell busy, and, as one result, changing the sun- 

 beam on its way down to us in the way we have seen. 



I have alluded to the practical utilities of these re- 

 searches : but, practical or not, I hope we may feel 

 that such facts as we have been considering about 

 sunlight and the earth's atmosphere may be stones 

 useful in the future edifice of science; and that, if 

 not in our own hands, then in those of others when 

 our day is over, they may find the best justification 

 for the trouble of their search in the fact that they 

 prove of some use to man. 



May I add an expression of my personal gratifica- 

 tion in the opportunity with which you have hon- 

 ored me of bringing these researches before the 

 1 loyal institution, and my thanks for the kindness 

 with which you have associated yourselves for an 

 hour, in retrospect at least, with that climb toward 

 the stars which we have made together, to find from 

 light in its fulness what unsuspected agencies are at 

 work to produce for us the light of common day. 



NOTES AND NEWS. 



The Committee on meteorology, instituted by the 

 International congress of meteorology, will meet for a 

 third session in Paris in the beginning of the coming 



September. Up to the present time, the following 

 questions have been proposed for consideration dur- 

 ing this session : 1°. Report of the secretary on the 

 labors of the committee since the meeting at Copen- 

 hagen; 2°. Report of Messrs. Brito Capello, Hilde- 

 brandsson, and Ley, on the observation of the cirrus; 

 3°. Does it seem opportune to soon convene a third 

 international congress of meteorologists ? 4°. Estab- 

 lishment of stations of the first order on the Kongo; 

 5°. Discussion on the utility of the summaries of the 

 state of the weather as published in the different 

 countries, and the eventual preparation of a plan for 

 more uniformity; 6°. Discussion of the utility of 

 the meteorological telegrams from America proposed 

 by Gen. Hazen, and of an eventual organization for 

 their distribution in Europe; 7°. By what means 

 can the timely receipt of meteorological telegrams 

 be assured ? 8°. Should the reduction of barometer 

 readings to gravity under 45° of latitude be generally 

 introduced ? 9°. Is it desirable to also count in 

 meteorology the hours of the day from lh. to 24 h. 

 according to the resolutions of the international con- 

 ference in Washington ? 10°. Designation for a uni- 

 formly covered sky according to the form of the 

 clouds; 11°. Definition of rain and snow days; 12°. 

 Should not the general adoption of a uniform height 

 above the earth for rain-gauges be recommended? 

 13°. What progress has been made lately in the more 

 exact measurement of snow ; 14°. International 

 meteorological tables; 15°. Modification of the rules 

 for the administration of the international committee. 

 Any meteorologists intending to submit to the com- 

 mittee remarks on one or the other of these questions, 

 or to propose other questions, can address Mr. Robert 

 H. Scott, Meteorological office, 116 Victoria Street, 

 London. 



— The French Academy of inscriptions and belles- 

 lettres offers the Bordin prize in 1887 for the best 

 treatment of the subject, ' A critical examination of 

 the geography of Strabo.' Competitors are invited, 

 1°, to review the history of the constitution of the 

 text of the work; 2°, to compare the language of 

 Strabo with that of contemporaneous Greek writers, 

 such as Diodorus Siculus, etc. ; 3°, to classify the origi- 

 nal observations of Strabo, and segregate them from 

 such as are merely quoted by him from other author- 

 ities; 4°, to draw such definite conclusions as the 

 above-mentioned studies may suggest. The memoirs, 

 under the usual conditions, should be deposited with 

 the secretary of the academy at Paris by the 31st 

 of December, 1886. 



— The fifth German geographical congress was held 

 at Hamburg, April 9-11 last, under the auspices of a 

 local committee. 



— A meeting of the American metrological society 

 was held at Columbia college on Wednesday, May 20. 

 Several interesting communications were made. 



— The Geographischesjahrbuch (Gotha), now edited 

 by H. Wagner since the death of its founder, Behn, 

 will hereafter appear in two annual parts, with alter- 

 nating contents, instead of as a single volume every 

 two years, as heretofore. The part of volume x. just 



