51 
month was 90° on the 5th inst. against 87° 
last year. 
The lowest temperature was 38° on the 12th 
against 42° last year. The mean temperature 
for the month was 61.2° against 65.1° last 
year, and 61.3° in 1876, and was about 
normal. The temperatnre of well- water was 
50° or 1° above last year. 
The first appearance of frost for the season 
was on the morning of the 11th inst., the 
temperature sank to 37° at day light, 7 days 
earlier than last year, making 92 days with- 
out frost against 99 days last season. No 
particular damage done, for the corn and 
other farm products had been out of the way 
of a light frost for several weeks. 
Rain fell on 7 days against 3 days last year. 
The total amount of rainfall was 6.30 inches 
against 1.47 inches last year, and was 2.83 
inches above the normal. It thundered and 
lightened on the 4, 7, 8, 18, 19, 24, 25. 29 and 
30. Zodical light was visible on the evening 
of the 18, 20, and 26. It hailed a little on the 
25 and 29. A light frost was visible on the 
mornings of the 11, 12, 13, 14, 21, 24 and 27. 
Pigeons were flying south on the 23d, Wild 
Geese on the 25th, Robins on the 27th, Blue 
birds on the 28th, Snakes were out sunning 
themselves on the 30th. South-east was the 
prevailing wind as follows, viz.: s. e. 7 days, 
s. w, 6 days, n. w. 6 days, s. 5 days, w. 3 days, 
n. e. 2 days and n. 1 day. It was clear on 
8 days, cloudy on 6 clays, stormy on 7 days, 
frost on 7 days and hot on 4 days. 
Missouri Weather Service — Aug., '78. 
PROF. F. E. NIPHER, DIRECTOR, ST. LOUIS. 
For the month of August, the mean tem- 
perature at the Central Station was 78° 7', 
which is 2° above the normal. The highest 
temperature reached was 94° 5' on the 24th. 
In 1850 and in 1861 an August temperature 
of 101° 5' was observed. The lowest temper- 
ature reached was 59° 8' on the 26th. 
The rainfall was 5.06 inches, the average 
August rainfall being 4.03 inches. The rain- 
fail has been greater than for the past Aug- 
ust, 14 out of the 39 years ending 1878. In 
1848 there was an August rainfall of 9.74 
inches, while in 1873 there was a rainfall of 
0.04 inches, only. 
In the state, the rainfall was least in the 
Northwest and in the Southwest, being in 
these districts less than 1.0 inch. At Big 
Creek, in the East, occurred the maximum, 
5.86 inches. On the 24th, high temperatures 
were registered at different Stations, as fol- 
lows: Warrensburg 105°, Hopkins and Har- 
lem 100°, Clinton, Corning and Springfield 
98°, Lexington 97°, Carthage and Boonville 
97° and Sedalia 96°. 
During the month, numerous local storms 
occurred. On the 8th there was a storm at 
Big Creek (South of Lincoln Co.) which 
arose at 6 p. m,, continuing 37 minutes, dur- 
ing which time 0.90 inches of rain fell. At 
Canton on the 19th there was the heaviest 
storm of the summer. A severe storm visited 
that place on the 24th also. On the 21st 
Springfield was visited by a storm which 
severely damaged fruit and ornamental trees, 
grape vines, &c. The storm began at 6 P. m. 
At 6:30 p. M. the rain, which had, up to that 
time, been falling in torrents, was accompa- 
nied by a fall of hail, which lasted for 30 min- 
utes, doing much damage to the trees and 
corn ; stripping the former of of their foliage 
end breaking down the latter. There was 
no loss of life. 
Meteorological Report of the City of 
Oakland, California. 
BY J. B. TREMBLY, M. J)., OAKLAND, CAL. 
Meteorological synopsis for the month of 
Aug, 1878. Observations taken at 6:30 A. M. 
and 2 and 9 p. m. Latitude 37° 48' 20" north. 
Longitude 122° 15' 20" west. Height above 
the sea 24 feet. 
BAROMETER. 
Mean barometer of the month 29.85 
Highest barometer, Aug. 24, 7 a. m 30.04 
Lowest " " 19, 9 P. m 29.69 
Monthly range 35 
thermometer. 
Mean temperature for the month 59.55 
Mean temp, of warmest day, Aug. 9... 65. 
" " of coldest day, Aug. 19 57. 
Maximum temp. Aug. 9, 2 P. M...... 77. 
Minimum " " 17, 6:30 a. m 53. 
Greatest daily variation Aug. 8 22. 
Least " " " 14 6. 
Monthly range of temperature 24. 
Mean daily range of temperature 12.25 
RECAPITULATION (BAY NURSERY). 
Rainfall in inches during the month.. . 00. 00 
" " " since July 1st, 1878. . 00.00 
WEATHER. 
Number of clear and fair days 26 
Number of cloudy days 5 
dumber of days in which rain fell 3 
Number of mornings of low fog 1 
No. of mornings of overcast high fog. . 16 
WIND— 93 OBSERVATIONS. 
Southwest and west 29 
Northwest and north 15 
Northeast and east 0 
Southeast and south 14 
Calm... 35 
August gave scarcely any meteorological 
phenomena that was unusual. The equabil- 
ity of temperatures show only 5° of difference 
for the morning, 15° for noon and 6° for eve- 
ning, with a mean daily range of 12.25°. 
The comparative mean temperature of the 
month with the past two years is, for 1876, 
59.61°; for 1877, 60.54°; for 1878, 59.55°_How- 
ever, the small amount of diminished tem- 
perature had the result of making a per- 
ceptible effect upon the increased number of 
overcasts or high fogs and keeping the 
atmosphere too cool, much of the time, for 
comfort. 
Send in your orders for cards, letterheads, 
noteheads, envelopes, etc. Every naturalist 
ought to have his name and address printed 
on his envelopes, note- or letterheads, which 
ever he prefers to use. By having his ad- 
dress printed on his envelope, he saves a 
great many letters from going to the " dead 
letter-box." Our rates are the lowest— send 
for estimates. 
The Supposed. New Metal Mosaiidrum. 
It will be remembered that under the 
name of mosandrmn Mr. J. Lawrence Smith 
recently described the radical of an earth 
that he had isolated from certain American 
gadolinites. The French chemist, M. Marig- 
nac, a high authority in these matters, having 
examined specimens of the supposed new 
metal, sent him by Mr. Smith, pronounces 
them nothing but terbium. At the same time 
he acknowledges the fact tbat from the spec- 
troscopic studies of M. Soret there must be 
recognized in these minerals a metal which 
appears to be new to science. It is not the 
mosandrmn of Mr. Smith, however, but the 
radical of an earth isolated by M. Delafon- 
taine, and rightly considered by him entirely 
new. — La Nature. 
Naturalists who are not already sub- 
scribers, should subscribe imme- 
diately. 
New Fish. 
The Gloucester fishermen are rendering 
Professor Baird and the cause of science 
very valuable aid by bringing in from the 
fishing banks many curious kinds of fish, 
heretofore thrown away as of no value. In 
this manner much is learned concerning the 
presence on the grounds visited by fishermen 
of Arctic ond European fish. The schooner 
Marion, Captain Joseph W. Collins, lately 
arrived from a bank trip, brought in three 
strange fish. Two were sharks, entirely new 
to North America, if not indeed to science. 
The other was a fish of the genus halopor- 
phyrus, but of undescribed species- fSci.Am. 
We are always pleased to receive ar- 
ticles and notes of natural science for 
publication from our friends. 
Zonites Alliaria, Mill. 
About three years ago I first discovered 
this European species of mollusk in the 
greenhouses of Chicago, where it has now 
become naturalized, being conveyed to our 
shores on imported plants. "When fresh the 
animals have a strong smell of garlic, hence 
the name. I do not think that any author 
has noticed its advent except myself, if so, 
there is no record of it. 
W. W. Calkins. 
Remember the address of the Valley 
Naturalist is Room 36, N. W. cor. Third 
and Pine Streets, St. Louis, Mo. 
Ed. Valley Naturalist: 
Dear Sir: I am surprised at the number 
of applications I have had through my ad- 
vertisement, which has appeared in your 
valuable publication, and I think it will pay 
any naturalist, who wishes to buy, sell or 
exchange specimens of natural history, to 
advertise in your publication. 
Yours, &c, 
W. C. Eg an. 
Chicago^ September 11, 1878, 
