712 



SCIENCE. 



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



to find relief, but with the completion of the 

 electric railroad at Bagnio, in the province of 

 Benguet, this will no longer be needful, as 

 the climate at that altitude will afford the 

 requisite change." (The italics are those of 

 the compiler of these notes.) A study of the 

 experience of European nations in the tropics 

 leads to a much less optimistic view than 

 that here set forth. Mountain stations, such 

 as Baguio, are important, because they fur- 

 nish some relief from the heat and humidity 

 of the lowlands, and are above the zone of 

 many tropical diseases, but they do not solve 

 the proMem of acclimatization. It is the 

 monotony of the climatic conditions in the 

 tropics which is one of the chief difficulties. 

 The ' spur of the seasons,' which is so im- 

 portant an influence in giving the northern 

 peoples their vigor and energy and ' push,' is 

 lacking in the tropics. No mountain climate 

 can supply this missing quality. A change 

 to a colder latitude alone can do it. 



THE NEW CAPITAL OF ERITREA. 



Climatic considerations have been the de- 

 termining factor in bringing about the selec- 

 tion of a new capital for the Italian colony 

 of Eritrea. The government offices have 

 hitherto been at Massowa, on the Red Sea, 

 where the climate is very trying. The present 

 plan is to remove the seat of government to 

 Asmara, on the high plateau of the hinter- 

 land, sixty miles in the interior, and 7,800 

 feet above the sea. Asmara is above the zone 

 of the typical tropical diseases. 



THE CLIMATE OF BALTIMORE. 



Part 1 b. Special Publication, Vol. IL, 

 Maryland Weather Service, 1905, of a ' Re- 

 port on the Climate and Weather of Balti- 

 more and Vicinity,' by Dr. Oliver L. Fassig, 

 has been issued. Part 1 a was recently men- 

 tioned in these notes. The present volume 

 deals with humidity, precipitation, sunshine 

 and cloudiness, winds and electrical phe- 

 nomena, is a very thorough study, and con- 

 tains abundant illustrations. 



MONTHLY WEATHER REVIEW. 



The Monthly Weather Review for December, 

 1904 (issued February 28, 1905), contains ar- 



ticles of general interest as follows: A review 

 of Woeikof 's new text-book of meteorology, by 

 Dr. Stanislav Hanzlik (unfortunately this 

 book is in Russian) ; a summary of the work 

 done at the Aeronautical Observatory at Tegel, 

 near Berlin, from October 1, 1901, to Decem- 

 ber 31, 1902 ; ' Evaporation Observations in 

 the United States,' by H. H. Kimball ' (read 

 before the Twelfth National Irrigation Con- 

 gress, El Paso, November 16-18, 1904), ac- 

 companied by a chart showing lines of equal 

 depth of evaporation in inches from a free 

 water surface, computed from observations 

 between July, 1887, and June, 1888; 'The 

 Storm and Cold Wave of December 24 to 29, 

 1904,' by W. J. Bennett; 'Some Relations 

 between Direction and Velocity of Movements 

 and Pressure at the Center of Ellipsoidal 

 Cyclones,' by Dr. Stanislav Hanzlik; 'Nitro- 

 gen in Rain Water,' ' The Vapor Pressure of 

 Mercury,' 'Kite Work by the Blue Hill Ob- 

 servatory and the U. S. Weather Bureau.' 



R. DeC. Ward. 



MEMORIAL OF THE OHIO ACADEMY OF 

 8CIEXCE ON THE DEATH OF PRO- 

 FESSOR A. A. WRIGHT. 



The executive committee of the Ohio Acad- 

 emy of Science has adopted the following 

 memorial prepared at its request by Professor 

 Lynds Jones in respect to the death of Pro- 

 fessor A. A. Wright, of Oberlin, a member and 

 a former president of the academy. 



Albert Allen Wright died at his home in Oberlin 

 on April 2, 1905, of acute peritonitis after an 

 illness of scarcely twenty-four hours. Professor 

 W right was graduated from Oberlin College in 

 1865, received the degree of A.M. from Oberlin in 

 1868, the degree of Ph.B. from the School of 

 Mines, Columbia College, 1875, was professor of 

 mathematics and natural science at Berea College, 

 Kentucky, 1870-73, and was called to the chair of 

 geology and natural history of Oberlin College in 

 1874. With the change of title to professor of 

 geology and zoology his service at Oberlin has been 

 continuous since his first appointment. 



Professor Wright was born in Oberlin in 1846. 

 He served as a 100-day man during the closing 

 days of the rebellion, and received his baccalau- 

 reate degree the following year at the age of nine- 

 teen. He began early to develop his natural taste 



