Editorial Comment. 
397 
calities noth ward, with the simple difference, that the Fox Hills 
makes its appearance between the Fort Pierre and the 
Laramie , while the Dakota loses much of its thickness. The 
lithological features of the Dakota , the Fort Benton , the 
Niobrara and the Laramie are strangely persistent along this 
line of nearly 300 miles, from Denver to Galisteo. 
University of the city of New York. 
April 9th, 1889. 
EDITORIAL COMMENT. 
A SANDY SIMOON IN THE NORTHWEST.— 
May sixth and seventh, 1889, will long be remembered by 
the residents of the Northwest. On those days culminated the 
violence of the dry, southeasterly wind which had prevailed in 
some portions of the Northwest, particularly in central and 
eastern Dakota, for several days previous. The wind itself, 
while not specially violent, varying from twenty to forty miles 
an hour, and perhaps in some places fifty miles an hour, w r as 
remarkable for carrying with it clouds of dust and sand which 
filled the air and penetrated into houses, and blinded the trav¬ 
eler who happened to be caught in the roads, and compelled 
the cessation of nearlv all outside labor. The wind prevailed 
over a large area. It seems to have reached furthest east, and 
been most violent, on the sixth and seventh of the month. 
The newspapers gave telegraphic accounts of it in Nebraska, 
South and North Dakota, Iowa and Minnesota. It probably 
also affected western Wisconsin, and considerable portions of 
Missouri. 
A strong southeasterly parching wind, prevailing for several 
days, about that time in the Spring, is a familiar fact to old 
residents who have taken note of the peculiarities of the north¬ 
western climate. It more frequently comes after Spring vege¬ 
tation is more advanced than it was this season on the days 
mentioned, and its effect on small, tender twigs is disastrous. 
It is enervating to all animals and merciless on the wilting 
vegetation. But prior to this wind, which was followed every¬ 
where by copious rains, the Spring of 1889 in the Northwest 
had been dry; and this was intensified in its effect on young 
vegetation by the preceding dry and open winter. All springs 
and streams were unwontedly low. Hence the soil was loose 
