548 
POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW. 
was from M. Poey, the well-known meteorologist. He considers that 
many years’ experience has enabled him to prove the accuracy of Herr 
Dove’s laws. His observations have been especially made upon clouds, and 
from their peculiar movements he concludes • 
1st. That when in the northern hemisphere the currents of air proceed- 
ing from the equator alternate with the polar ones, the wind appears to 
come from every point of the compass, and usually in the following order : 
south, west, north, east, and south. 
2nd, Upon the southern hemisphere the opposite is the case, the order 
of occurrence being: south, east, north, west, and south. 
3rd. The influence of the wind on meteorological phenomena combined 
with the law of its change may be said to represent two distinct sections 
of the compass — east and west. 
Peculiar Form of Hailstones . — At the sitting of the French Academy on 
the 4th of April last, M. J. A. Barral reported some interesting meteoro- 
logical facts observed in Paris on the 29th of March last. There had been 
snow and rain from eight in the morning till ten, and then from that till 
noon it rained and hailed, there was thunder at one, and at three p.m. a 
very singular form of hail fell in heavy showers, different from what has 
heretofore been described by natural philosophers. Ordinary hail-stones 
are generally flattened or round, and frequently more or less angular, and 
present concentric layers surrounding a nucleus. That which fell on the 
29th of March was of a very different character. The stones were quite co- 
nical in form, being slightly concave at the base ; the surfaces were covered 
over with little projecting six-sided pyramids of a transparent character, 
and a few of a similar form were observed in the concave portion of the 
base. They were about eight or ten millimetres wide, and from ten to 
thirteen millimetres in length. They weighed, in various instances, from 
1 80 to 250 milligrammes, and seemed to be formed by the adhesion of 
several minute pyramids, leaving a cavity in the centre. They fell point 
downwards. — Vide Comptes Rendus , April 4th. 
MICROSCOPY. 
With the exception of an improved form of mounting-table, which has 
been described by Mr. Goddard in the last number of the Microscopical Jour- 
nal, very little has been done in the way of manufacture of new varieties 
of instruments. This is most probably due to the circumstance that the 
Council of the Microscopical Society of London propose to give medals 
for the best forms of instruments submitted to them. They offer a medal 
for the best specimen presented in each of the following classes : — 
1. An educational microscope, to be sold for ... 3 guineas. 
2. A student’s microscope ,, „ ... 5 „ 
3. A student’s binocular microscope „ ... 10 „ 
Also a certificate of excellence for a hand microscope, to be sold for one 
guinea. 
