706 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XXI. No. 540. 



the high almost invariably observed on the 

 northwestern quadrant. The air thrown or 

 carried up through the funnel of the cyclone 

 remains in this situation more than in any 

 other part of the region corresponding to the 

 circumference of the cyclone. For to the 

 south at this high level the translatory and 

 rotatory movements correspond to and in a 

 large measure neutralize each other. To the 

 west the current of the cyclonic mass is trans- 

 verse and not counter to the constant over- 

 current, and besides, the flow having just 

 emerged from the great friction of the north- 

 ern side, has had its mass deeply shorn when 

 it leaves the northwestern quadrant. On the 

 eastern aspect, the masses of air carried up 

 and thrown out by the cyclone move onward 

 even at a more rapid pace with the over- 

 current and are carried out of the way, giving 

 rise to the cirrus clouds usually seen under 

 such circumstances. A high then must accu- 

 mulate on the northwestern quadrant. As 

 soon as the cyclone has passed any given point, 

 the ' high ' begins to flow out in obedience to 

 the laws of equilibrium. To the east it is 

 hindered by the snarly cyclone. To the north 

 it is hindered by the conservation of areas due 

 to the narrowing meridians and perhaps the 

 undertow equatorward. To the southeast- 

 ward, then, it must escape into the depression 

 created by the passing cyclone. 



The blizzard. — -If this outflow of the high 

 finds a lofty and long range of mountains 

 running north and south, these will behave 

 as one of the banks of a great river or one 

 side of a river bed in causing the mass to 

 take on a spiral form of movement. By this 

 movement the atmosphere will be continuously 

 climbing obliquely up the mountains on the 

 western side, while on the eastern border of 

 the spiral the cold dry air will be as continu- 

 ously drawn down from the upper regions. 

 The western blizzard is such a current, and 

 the Texas norther its continuation. 



The great majority of our cyclonic ' laws,' 

 however, do not originate in the tropical 

 north Atlantic, but in the tropical north 

 Par-ifio. They arise over the innumerable 

 islands found in that region, move west till 

 deflected by the Asiatic mainland, carrying 



rain and moisture to various distances inland, 

 and then they veer around till, caught in the 

 eastward overcurrent, they are carried east- 

 ward across the Pacific, the American conti- 

 nent and often across the Atlantic, and far 

 into the eastern hemisphere again before be- 

 ing arrested. 



This is not to deny that cyclones may be 

 formed in other ways, though it may be hard 

 to see how ; but since cyclones without ntmaber 

 are formed over tropical islands ready to start 

 on their travels, how else can it be than that 

 some of them are caught up in the way de- 

 scribed and borne away on their earth-gird- 

 ling journey? D. T. S^rITH. 



SPECIAL ARTICLES. 



A CONTRIBUTION TO THE HISTORY OF THE CON- 

 TROVERSY OF FLAMSTEED WITH NEWTON 

 AND HALLEY. 



The library of the United States ililitary 

 Academy at West Point owns a fine copy of 

 Flamsteed's ' Historia Britannica Coelestis ' 

 (London, 1712) which is without any manu- 

 script notes or corrections. To one of the fly 

 leaves a single folio leaf was fastened : ' An 

 estimate of the number of folio pages that the 

 Historia Britannica Ccelestis may contain when 

 printed,' which is dated ' The Observatory, 

 Nov. 8, 1704.' On the blank side of this leaf is 

 written, by Flamsteed himself, the words : ' Mr. 

 Flamsteed's Estimate.' The printed folio page 

 is set up in paragraphs, and Flamsteed has 

 written comments opposite to many of them. 

 As other copies of the ' Historia Britannica 

 Ccelestis ' probably contain this folio estimate, 

 I will copy here the MS. comments only, not 

 the paragraphs to which they refer. 



The first seven lines of paragraph 1 refer 

 to Gascoigne's observations; they are enclosed 

 by a MS. brace; Flamsteed's comment is: 



These are not yet printed, hemg reserved 

 to he inserted in the preface. 



The last four lines of paragraph 1 refer to 

 observations of eclipses, Jupiter's satellites, 

 sun-spots, comets, etc., taken with a large sex- 

 tant, etc., between the years 1675 and 1689 at 

 Greenwich; they are enclosed by a MS. brace; 

 the paper at the margin is torn here, but I 

 make out Flamsteed's comment to be: 



