580 



SCIENCE. 



ATOMIC PHYLLOTAXY. 



Gerber {Chemical News, XLIII, 242-43), says that 

 " no simple relation exists among " his divisors, therefore 

 they " have no value in themselves." There is, however, 

 a relation which he failed to discover, for they are phyllo- 

 tastic, as will be seen by the following comparison : 



Gerber's Divisors. Phyllotastic Divisors. 



H 



D 2 

 D 3 

 D 4 



•9997 

 .769 

 1-995 

 1-559 

 1.245 



H = O -=- 2 4 

 -h x 2 H 

 2 H 



I x I H 

 I x i H 



.998 

 .768 

 1.996 



1-559 

 1.247 



Pliny Earle Chase. 

 Haverford College, Nov. 10, 1881. 



On September 13, 1881, a red star was noticed at the 

 Harvard Observatory in R. A. 16th, 31. 5 m, Dec. + 72 

 32'. From the similarity of its spectrum to that of several 

 known variable stars, it was presumed to be variable ; and 

 the suspicion was confirmed both by its absence from the 

 catalogues, and by subsequent observation, which showed 

 that its brightness was increasing. Information respect- 

 ing it was sent by telegraph to Dr. Copeland, at Strass- 

 burg, by means of the telegraphic cipher devised by 

 Messrs. Chandler and Ritchie. 



The Museum of Comparative Zoology, of Harvard 

 College, has received a collection of ninety species of 

 fosfil plants from Cannelton, Pa. The species have been 

 identified by Mr. Lesquereux, who pronounces the series 

 one of the best made by Mr. Mansfield from that locality. 



The annual report to the government of India on the 

 progress of the cinchona cultivation and its practical re- 

 sults is a document not only of great importance, but also 

 of considerable interest. The success which was chronicled 

 in previous reports has been well maintained under the 

 superintendence of Dr. King, who has the responsible 

 charge of the cinchona cultivation in Bengal. It will be 

 remembered that the object to which" efforts hitherto have 

 been chiefly directed is the manufacture of a cheap febri- 

 fuge from the bark of the cinchona succirubra. The plan- 

 tations of this tree which are now in existence are so exten- 

 sive as to suffice for present and probable requirements, so 

 far as the febrifuge is concerned. They contain more than 

 four millions of trees, and from them 267,335 lbs. of red 

 bark were obtained during the year. The yield per acre 

 (1510 lbs.) is not, however, considered to be very good ; 

 9296 lbs. of the febrifuge were made during the year, and 

 S653 lbs. were consumed, 5500 lbs. being used in the 

 Government services and 3150 lbs. sold to the public. The 

 demand for the febrifuge steadily increases, a satisfactory 

 proof of its value, and the total amount manufactured 

 from the commencement to March 31, 1881, is 36,639 lbs. 



Financially the enterprise, initiated with such pains by 

 Mr. Markham, must be regarded as a complete success. 

 The actual profit on the year's working was eight per cent, 

 on the capital of the plantation. This does not, however, 

 represent the whole gain of the year. The price of quinine 

 was very high, and the cost of the 5550 lbs., which would 

 have been used by the Government had the febrifuge not 

 been available, would not have been less than ,£48,000, 

 while the cost of the febrifuge was only a sixth of the 

 amount, representing a saving of at least ,£40,000. 



METEOROLOGICAL REPORT FOR NEW YORK CITY FOR THE WEEK ENDING NOV. 26, 1881. 



Latitude 40 45' 58" N.; Longitude 73 57' 58" W.; height of instruments above the ground, 53 feet ; above the sea, 97 



feet ; by self-recording instruments. 



barometer. 



THERMOMETERS. 





MEAN FOR 

 THE DA V. 



MAXIMUM. 



MINIMUM. . 



MEAN. 



MAXIMUM. 



MIN1MCM. 



maxi'm 



NOVEMBER. 



Reduced 

 to 



Freezing. 



Reduced 

 to 



Freezing. 



Time. 



Reduced 

 to 



Freezing. 



Time. 



Dry 

 Bulb. 



Wet 

 Bulb. 



Dry 

 Bulb. 



Time. 



Wet 

 Bulb. 



Time. 



Dry 

 Bulb. 



Time. 



Wet 

 Bulb. 



Time. 



In Sun 



Sunday, 20-- 

 Mondav, 21.. 

 Tuesday, 22., 

 Wednesday, 23 - 

 Thursday, 24-. 

 Fliday, 25.. 

 Saturday, 26.. 



30.269 

 30137 

 30.185 

 29.941 

 29-573 

 3°-H5 

 30.036 



30.386 

 3°-37^ 

 30.206 

 30.280 

 29.822 

 30.200 

 30.196 



9 a. m. 

 a. m. 



8 p. m. 

 a. m. 



12 p. in. 



9 P- rn. 

 a. m. 



29.798 

 29.988 

 29.982 

 29-548 

 29.496 

 29.822 

 30.000 



a. m. 

 12 p. m. 



2 a. m. 

 i2 p. m. 



4 a. m. 



a. m. 



2 p. m. 



37-° 

 40.0 



34-3 

 30.6 

 32.0 

 27.3 

 3^-3 



36.0 

 39-o 

 33-3 

 30.6 

 32.0 

 26.7 

 33-7 



45 

 43 

 4' 



35 

 38 

 3° 

 43 



a. m. 

 3 P- m. 

 a. m. 

 9 p. m. 

 12 m. 

 3 p. m. 

 3 P- m. 



43 

 42 

 40 

 35 

 37 

 30 

 37 



a. m. 

 3 P- m. 

 a. m. 

 9 p m. 

 12 in. 



3 P- m - 



4 p. m. 



35 

 35 

 26 

 25 

 25 

 23 

 29 



12 p. m. 



a. m. 

 12 p. m. 



3 a. in. 

 12 p. m. 



7 a. m. 



a. m. 



35 

 35 

 26 

 25 

 25 

 23 

 28 



12 p. m. 



a. m. 

 12 p. m. 



3 a. m. 

 12 p. m. 



7 a. m. 



a. m. 



100. 

 84. 

 90. 

 45- 

 80. 

 92. 

 97- 



Mean for the week _ 30.041 inches. 



Maximum for the week at 9 a. m., Nov. 20th 30.386 " 



Minimum " at 4 a. m., Nov. 24th 29.496 " 



Range 890 '■ 



Dry. Wet. 



Mean for the week 34.2 degrees 33.0 degrees 



Maximum for the week, at oam. 201b. 45. " at oam2oth,43. " 

 Minimum " lk 7 am. 25th 23. 11 at 7 am 25th, 23. ' l 

 Range " " 23. " 20. " 



WIND. 



HYGROMETER. 



CLOUDS. 



RAIN AND *SNOW. 



NOVEMBER. 



DIRECTION. 



VELOCITY 

 IN MILES. 



FORCE IN 

 LBS. PER 

 SQR. FEET. 



FORCE OF VAPOR. 



RELATIVE 

 HUMIDITY. 



CLEAR, O 

 OVERCAST. IO 



DEPTH OF RAIN AND SNOW 

 IN INCHES. 



7 a. m. 



2 p. m. 



9 P- m- 



Distance 

 for the 

 Day. 



« 



s 



2oj 

 2* 



6i 



3 



13* 

 6 

 7i 



Time. 



B 



ci 

 t> 



5 



A 

 « 



a 

 0. 







B 



ci 

 rs 



B 

 0. 

 « 



82 



83 

 80 

 100 

 100 



78 

 42 



6 



ci 



o> 



IOO 



91 

 IOO 

 IOO 

 IOO 

 IOO 



56 



e 



a 



a 



w 



e 

 p. 



a* 



Time 



of 

 Begin- 

 ning. 



Time 

 of 



End- 

 ing. 



Dura- 

 tion, 

 h. m. 



Amount 

 of water 



Sunday, 20- 

 Monday, 21. 

 Tuesday, 22. 

 Wednesday ,23. 

 Thursday, 24. 

 Friday, 25. 

 Saturday, 26. 



n. w. 



w. 



n. w. 



n. e. 

 n. n w. 

 w. n.w. 



s. w. 



n. w. 



w. s. w. 

 n. n. w. 

 n. n. e. 

 n. n. w. 



w. 

 w. s. w 



n. e. 



s. w. 

 e. 



n. e. 

 w. n.w. 

 w. s. w. 

 w. s. w. 



309 

 '35 

 244 

 183 

 275 

 317 

 3"7 



i.ooam 

 1. 15 pm 

 11 15 am 

 9.00 pm 

 3.10pm 

 0.00 am 

 915pm 



.191 

 .212 

 .216 

 .141 

 .188 

 .123 

 .144 



.203 

 .231 

 .170 

 • 174 

 .204 

 .130 

 .113 



.204 

 •235 



.204 



■'53 

 .160 



.147 



00 

 100 



90 

 100 

 100 

 100 



79 



6cir. cu. 



7 cir. cu. 

 3 cir. 



8 cu. 

 10 







2 cir. 



6 cir. cu. 

 8 cu. 

 3 cir. s. 

 10 



8 cu. 

 1 cir. cu. 

 4cir.cu.s 



OOOOOOO 



am 

 12 m 

 am 



1 am 

 12 pm 

 5 am 



1. 00 

 12.00 

 5.00 



.01 



•59 

 .07 



Distance traveled during the week 1,780 miles 



Maximum force 2oJ£ lbs, 



• Wednesday, 23d, slight. 



Total amount of waler for the week 0.67 inch. 



Duration of run 18 hours, 00 minutes. 



DANIEL DRAPER, Ph. D. 

 Director Meteorological Observatory of the Department of Public Parks, New York. 



