492 



SCIENCJE, 



[Vol. VI., No. 148. 



most subject to disturbances from earthquakes. 

 It was thought that this could best be done by the 

 selection and appointment of local directors, each 

 having general charge of the work in a limited 

 area, and through whom persons at once quaUfied 

 and willing to undertake the care of an in- 

 strumental equipment could be best reached. In 

 addition it was thought desirable to organize a 

 large corps of observers, working through the 

 same local directors, who would report observa- 

 tions made without the aid of any special in- 

 struments, the system resembling somewhat that 

 for the collection of information regarding thun- 

 der-storms, tornadoes, etc., now in use in the sig- 

 nal office and in the New England meteorological 

 society. The questions addressed to such corre- 

 spondents by the Swiss earthquake commission 

 were discussed, as were also those used by Profes- 

 sor Rockwood in his studies of American seis- 

 mology during the past fifteen years. The sub- 

 ject of the charting of earthquakes and the graph- 

 ical representation of results of observation was 

 considered, and a good deal of time was given to 

 the examination of instniments, including one of 

 the seismoscopes of the form recently described in 

 Science, and some parts of a seismograph or seis- 

 mometer now being constructed. Professor Davis 

 reported upon the progress of the work of bibh- 

 ography winch he had undertaken a year ago, 

 showing that much work had been done, and that 

 the result might be ready for pubhcation in the 

 near future. Much confidence was expressed by 

 members of the conference in the success of efforts 

 being made by the geological sui^vey to organize a 

 systematic study of seismology. 



The status of the coast survey remains un- 

 changed up to date, although the air is by no 

 means devoid of rumors as to the probable disposi- 

 tion of this, one of the oldest and one of the most 

 efficient of the government scientific bureaus. 

 One of these is that, to some extent at least, its 

 work is to be divided up and transferred to other 

 government services, and it need hardly be said 

 that some anxiety for its future is felt by those 

 who understand and appreciate its past. 



The announcement of the resignation of General 

 Eaton as commissioner of education was heard 

 with regret by his many friends here. It is un- 

 derstood that he is to become the president of 

 Marietta college, at Marietta, O. Z. 



Washington, D.C, Nov, 30. 



ST. PETERSBURG LETTER. 



On Nov. 8 the St. Petersburg society of natural- 

 ists held its first general meeting of the present 

 winter season. A. N. Krasnow made a commu- 

 nication on the flora of the Kali^'r-k steppe (on 



the left bank of the Volga), which he had visited 

 this summer with the well-known geologist, 

 Professor Muschketow. In vol. xvi. of the Proceed- 

 ings of the society the most lengthy and impor- 

 tant paper is that on dunes by Sokolow, a young 

 geologist, who first studied them near Sestroretzk, 

 on the GuLf of Finland, and became then so inter- 

 ested in the matter that he visited dunes of the 

 interior in the governments of Kiev and Astrakhan. 

 He made interesting observations of the force of 

 the wind, as indicated by an anemometer placed 

 but twelve centimetres above the ground, and 

 compared these with the size, shape, etc., of the 

 sand particles moved by the wind. Observations 

 of that kind, if systematically conducted, may be 

 very useful to travellers in permitting them to 

 estimate the strength of the wind by the size of 

 the objects moved. There is also in this volume 

 a paper on the birds of the White Sea coast, by 

 Nikolskij. The poverty of the tundra (treeless 

 region) of the continent is contrasted with the 

 rich bird-life of the seacoasts and islands. Here 

 two regions are distinguished, — that of the colder 

 waters of the White Sea, and of the ocean east of 

 the Swiatoi Noss, rich in individuals, but not in 

 species ; and that on the west to the frontier of 

 Norway, in waters warmed by the Gulf Stream ,^ 

 where the species also are more numerous. 



The geographical society has had one interesting 

 meeting of its section of mathematical and phys- 

 ical geography, in which Abich lectured on his i 

 explorations of the Caucasus, his life-work. The 

 celebrated geologist has already, for more than 

 five years, retired from active work in the field, 

 and lives in Vienna, occupied by the working-ou t 

 and publishing of the immense material collected 

 in the Caucasus. 



No. 4 of the Isvestia of the society, issued a few 

 days ago, is nearly entirely occupied by the pie- 

 liminary report of N. D. Jurgens on the Leua 

 polar station, and the publication of the detaikd 

 results of the meteorological observations of thv> 

 first year, — Sept. 1, 1882, to August, 1883. The 

 daily means of the principal meteorological ele- 

 ments are given, as also the hourly means for every 

 month. The mean monthly temperatures have 

 already been noticed in Science. As to the ex- 

 tremes, their relative steadiness is to be mentioned. 

 The greatest difference between them is 29°. 8 C. 

 (in December). It is below 24"^ in January, March, 

 and April, below 20° in November, and below 15° 

 in July and August. If the limited range in sum- 

 mer is common to all polar stations, the same is 

 not true in winter, when it is larger, both in North 

 America and in the interior of Russia, but especial- 

 ly farther to the east, on the coast of East Siberia 

 (Nischnekolymsk, Pitlekaj). The freezing-point 



