344 MONTHLY WEATHER REVIEW. JUNE, 1916 sionally the fog fornis as far as 20 miles out at sea, in- creasin in mounts as i t comes steadily landward in the of different origin from that referred to in the preceding parqpphs. It is due no doubt to the upwelling of rela- tively cold water some distance offshore. The ocean air, already near the point of saturation, is cooled to its dewpoint when it conies in contact with this relatively cold water. The fog then formed persists unbroken for long periods of time. When the air in which this fog float4 is drawn inland to replace the heated air rising over the hot int,erior valleys in summer, this fog, already forniecl, moves inland with it and does not dissipate until the sun literall dries it up from above. The wind kind comes inland. A marked case of fog fornintion and dissipation with relation to the shifting of the wind occurred in December, 1915. On the 20th the tem ernture nn the mountain the thermometer recorded dniost 1 de ree higher than the preceding aftenloon. Also consi!fera.ble fog hnd formed below at t1.n deration of &out SO0 feet. By 5 p. m. the temperature had risen to 54"F., and condi- tions resembled those usually present during the summer est fog prevalence below. months, the Early the fo owing morning the wind changed to the northeast, and by mid :tfternoon the fog had dissipated. At 5 a. ni. the nest day, Deceniher 22, it. wtts observed that some fog hn.d formed during the night. The tem- perature here w:xs 53OF., whilo iit Sitii Frtiiicisco, 14 miles southesst of here. it was 5 O O F . The wind during the night, nnd up to 7 n'c1oc.k in t8ho morning wns fruni the north, when it vccrtd to the nort1ie:tst. By 5:30 n. m. the fog below had dim pearecl. ?%e tenixnturo aftenloon, nnd ma~s 57°F. at 5 p. ni. At San Francisco the temperat,ure at 5 p. m. was 60"F., and had been tis high as 64°F. in the middle of the day. No fog fornied during that day. Soon nfter noon the wind hacked to the northwest and continued from that qundrmt until \I a. m. of the 23d. At 5 o'clock that morning t,he teni- perature on the mounttiin, which represents the temper- ature of the upper air, was 56"F., equal to tenipera.tures on many mornings in the r i d d l e of sunimer. At, Snn Francisco the tempomtiire nt tho snnie time wtw 51°F. About half the surroundin country was corered with fog. l'he wind swung bo t % e northenst nt 9 a. ni., re- maining there till 1 p. m., when it backed to the north. The fog cleared away before noon. The wenther re- mained warm throughout the day, the wind continuing light from the north until 4 a. ni. of December 24, when it veered to the northenst, remaining there until 11 n. m. Very little fo fornied durin the night. At 5 o'clock Francisco it was 10 degrees lower. By 3 p. m. R fog bank could he seen about 20 miles out on the ocean, moving landward. Signs of the wind ba.clriiig to tho northwwt were noticed at 3:30 p. ni. By 5:31 it had gone to the northwest, aid by 7 p. 111. the direction wa.s west. N.r;o by 5 p. ni. the fog had reached the shore and in nnother hour completely c(:ivored the ocean and h i d to the south niid southeast of Mount, Tnmnlpais. The t,emperatura fell during the night of the a-lth, being 49°F.. at 5 n. m. of the 25th. At S:tn Il'rmvisco it was I degree warmer. Simultnneously with the return to normal winter tern- peratnres, i. e., warmer at, sealevel t1in.n n.t higher nlti- tildes, the fog began to dissipt1.t.e and was gone by mid- dternoon.. forni o B a. high bank or wall. This forniation is probably direction naturally (9 eterniines whether or not fog of this began to rise slowly. The fol Q owing morning at 5 o'clock T O d Of gre continued to rise, nnd rnnche l 59°F. in the nlidd I e of the that morning t a 8 tenipersture K iere wns 54"F., while at San The foregoing case hears out tho hgpot.licsis that t.hc ten1 erature of the upper air must, he higher t,han that of t,he P ower t.o produc.e proper contlit.inns for fog foimation, nurl also shows t,be part the dircct,ion of t.hc wind platys with regard to fog formntion aud &sip* d t)' 1011. ON THE SO-CALLED CHANGE IN EUROPEAN CLIMATE DURING HISTORIC T1MES.I By 11. 11. ~IILIIEB~ANDSSON (Presentad to the Royal Society of Sciences of l~p411, Nor. 5,1015.1 INI'RODUCYI'ION. I t is n weLl-esta,hlished fact. that cliiiiate hiis uiidergoiie very great changes in a.U t,he 1;inds of t.he world iluriug thosc. clist,nnt tiiiies with which grolngist,s are concernctl. Even during the relntjiwly sliort period tliat hns cln >sod since t.ho cnd of t.he glricid ~hpicli it hiis hecn possib f e t.o verify quit.@ considcrahle vnniit,ions hi the Sc:indinnviiui countries. For esctniple. it is well est nhlishtrtl t h t sinw t,he 1 'ad cpoch the climate of Swcdc.n was n t one t,inio muc fl .zcl warmer t,lian it, is to-(lay. In the pc:it--hoga hnw boeii found 1iatzelnut.s or fi1bert.s (I 'orylrrs awlZmn.) ns fnr as Lnplancl, the T m p n.atcms ~~cciirreil in the lakes of Sweden u t,o the Iiitltude of U p ~d ~t , :~l d st.iiIilps of pine ent liinit,s of t.he birches, et.c. These c!i:iatt.ic vnriations are esplnined by t.he gretit chniiges iii diatrilmt.imi of land ant1 sen. I t is clear that, thc diiiintc? iiiiist liavc hwi iit,lier t h n ns it. is :it, prclsc?ntj ~-h c w t,hc Uii.lt,i(l occ.:ipie!tl t.he grrzit,er >(.irI,ion cif soiit.hrrii S~vedtw, miJ th:it. ii niust. litivc heeii c 1 ifferent. wlirii t,liis grrat. I i ~l i ~ I V ~Y iillpcl with fwsh wnter tliiaii it. \vats ai. t.111. ! i i .1 1 ~ w\.hci: I t forlaad ti d f nf t,he si~n filled wit.h snlt water. Arc.l-iso'logiut,s find ha!. t,he pcniusuln lias hrtd nlniost, the smie cnnst. line--escept~ t.he const,? of Norrlniitl-since t,lie beginning of t.hc Iroii Age, t,lint. is, at, n period rstmimntrrcl 11s preceding our own bv 2,500 years. Sincr t,hnta epocli t,lirrc+ 11:~s hecw no nota- ble chnnp in the (-1ist.ribut~lon of 1.1.1itl niiil \vat ci'. It. reinnilis t.1) tletermine d i i ?t .h ~ t h crli:ii:it.c ha.s uiii1e:gtiiie :t chnngc during this >criotl, i. e.? historic times. This question has b een the subject of lively discussion for a long time mid in recent yews it lica hocnmn sonie- w1in.t ncute. p:wt.icul:wlp through thc rocelit, rpscil.rclios of 0. Pettersson. He seeks to prorc t,h:tt our c~1inint.e 1111- dergoes n scculnr vitriation o€ &out 1s imturies, due to n corres 011din~ \Tiiriation in the heat, given out 1)y the sun. This ttcory gas c d e d forth othcr researches concerning whirh we shndl speak below. Here I shnll endeavor to presont tho results a.rrived at by n study of the question. We s1i:tll not consider ncci- dental or periodic vziat.ions whirh w e well recognized and esist ever-ywhere. In every country there are years, wen series of years, which am warni or :d d . dry or moist, etc.., and severnl more or less rcvgulatr poriocls have heen shown to esist, such RS thtit of Briickner, thst of solar spots and other shorter m e a recontly stiidied by WnllBn. In. thc pre.wn.t stisdy *itv 8ltrr.ll rrwlcawr to h t e m iiic wh.t*tli.w or iiot t h .m has been. n co,itiii:uous cliceiigc .f'n c%,ima..fc i.n oiic direction d,iii*iiig historic timrs: i.,i oilirr word.s? whtY7i.t~ the. climate of' Eisrope i.s ini irovi~ig or rk.trrinra.~i~i~. The question wonld b .e ansily nnswerecl if we had ron- tiiiuous ineteorologicnl ohsermticins froiii sovcrd vcii- turies hack down to the present,. Rut ereii thc inveil- t,ioii of meteorological instiiimonts gons back s(:tircc!Iy trees are P ound in the Scnndinnvian AI s up to tho pres- . -. .. .- 1 Trunbldcd from NOW Acta Regirp Societatis Scientiariini ~~padien~is, Series lV, v. 4. no. 5, Upsdr, 1915. 31 IJ., 3 pl. J0.-c. A., jr. J m , 1916. MONTHLY WEATHER REVIEW. 345 two or three hundred years, and precise observations date from but the beginning of the last century. Thus we can not have recourse to definite figures or to numerical observations. It is necessary to supplement direct observations by those passages in various authors' works relating to the condition of the crops, the time of the vintage, and a number of natural plimomena such as the freezing of the seas, opening of the riv0rs in the spring, the northern or southern limits of certain plants, etc. TESTIYONT OF THE ANOIEXTS. At the outset. one must consider what is to be found in this line for the sout~liermost oountries. Already Ar8g02 had proved that 3,300 yctrrs ha.~7e no1 hrowih.t nIw1.l m y a p prceur.bk a,l.ler.ti.on in lh,e rlimnte cf Pa.lcsti.n,P. In fn.c,t, iii order that dates shall conie t,o inaturity, the mran annual hmperaturemustbe a t lemt +3I0 C. On t ,h ~ other hand, the vine can not be , rotitahly cultirtited: it. coasos t.0 yield same mean Femperature esoeeds +Eo C. Nom, the lower thermonietric liniit for thc date differs verv litt,le from the upper thermomet,ric limit for the vine: if then we find t,lint in two different epochs the date and the grape mtiture simultaneously a t any given .lace, we may affirm that interval between the two epochs. 'YIiis is t ie case, how- ever, in Palestine. The city of Jericho is called the city of palms. The Bible speaks of pihis when referring to the earliest times. The Jews nte d:Lt.ils tint1 )repard t.lieni honey and a fermented liqiior. Pliiiy, Theophrastus, Tn- citus, dosephus. Yt.rabo, ek., 81~1) nwi1t.ion pnlnis locnted in Palestine. Am7 tAtJ i v t l t w r ) ?f ihc rlfrir h i s no: crasrt w p to th.e presmt duy. The same is t.me concrriijng t.lw vine t h t one culti- fruitssiiitahle for t l. e mnnufacture of wine a s soon as this there has been no senalde c r inintic. chan e during trhe BS dried fruits: t,hcy also rst,rac.tacl froin t I iem a kintl of 9 as Arago predict,ed. Arago's result has recent1 - heen confirniecl in a.n un- expected nianner. In the dslin:di, a collection of reli- gious writings of the first century, they have found re- corded meitsures of rainftill for the first century of our ern. These are the first q~inut,it.Rt,ivc olwrrations of t i meteorologicti1 henomencm which exid. The obsrrvn- tions are in per F ect accord with niorlcrn pluvinnietric: oh- servations at Jerusalem by Thomas Clinplin? It is thus well established that t,he cliniato of Palestine has not changed durin historic times. . Ara o foun3 the mine circumstance to obtain for severaf laces in the subtro >icd zone. of the Mediterra- nean. Lorcling to Tlieop '1 iravtus the date pslni was planted in Greece, but it bore no fruit there. However, on the Island of Cyprus the date attined to eclihility although it did not wholly mature. Tlie small aiuount of heat which this fruit lacks to-day in order to brina it. to perfect nmturity on tliat same islaiic1 was tlierekre also laclsing in antic uit,y. Roman oampagna. Now this would suppose a mean temperature of at lcast 1 3 O or 14°C. Thme we the lower 1iniit)s and [not,] very fn.r temperatures h-dzty. Pliny ndds thatm hi his t.irne the laurel and niyrt,le prospered in middlr I't.:dy o w n up Pliny says t,hat t h c laiirel and the niyrt,le grew on the -- ___ ~ * A w o . (Euvrvs eomplele. Taris IS%. t . 8. a Rillman CJ. Phe dmvn of methorologv. Qwirtcrly jum.. Roy. nletemol. SO(... London, Oet., lWS, 31: 2%. Also puhllshed'seyxtraiely. to some elevation on the mountain flanks. To-day these. plants do not, pass the nltitude of 4.00 ni., inid froin this relation we may conclucle, without ht&ation, tAat ancient, Ronie did not grow sensibly colder than Rome of to-day. i'A passage from Pliny the Younger," s a ~s Argo, "lertds to ai negative reply. He said, in speaking of a field locatecl in Tuscnny, 'Laurels occur there : if they sometimes die there, t.his does no t8 happen more fre uen t,ly thtin in tjho environs of Rome.' Accordingly, at, P t iat time the laurels sometimes died in the environs of Rome just, as linppens to-clay dso." The t,emperature of t.liats city can not have hcen n1uc.h above t,hat which causes t.he c h t h of t,he laurel: that is to say, from 13°C t.o 14'C. To-day the t,emperat,urc. of Ronie is 15.5"C. Vnrro gave the time of rint,age. AS hct,ween September 21 and Ochber 23; t,o-day one finds it on tdie average at October 2 in the vicinity of Honic. Finally, Virgil nnd Pliny both state t,hat t.hc plant Painw ?&ea nnd the ordinary fir could not support the hi h ten1 eratures of t,hr plains ant1 that! t,hey occurred on VYl y on t e niountains, just as to-clay. Thus, it is evident tha.t t7i.e cliinnte o Rome i 8 aen.sibZy t7i.e same at present (cs i:n. t7i.e time (-L i s t . J. W. Gregory, J. Partsch, nnc others have in the same way that the cliniat'e south of t.he & editer- ranean, in Cyrenicia nnd Tunisia, has no6 changed sinco Roman times. The clinracter of t,he count.ry m c l it.5 vegetat.ion remain t.he sttine AS rlescribccl 1)y Stmho ani1 ot.lier ancient autlioix But if the cliiiint,e of tdie subt,ropic;tl zone hns not changed during historic t:inies, one may deduce t,he fol- lowing very iniport.nnt consequence: !f th.era h0-s occ.urret7 a change in cl*ima,te alscidiwi~c, a.rt,ures over nl- most, n.11 the t.ropicd zone ;\.id ncgat.ir~? tiroiis nn the north nnd sout,li : while in 1ScJ.i t'lie inwrsc ralnt,ion chains. Bui i.n. 1 9 W 4 i71cre WIIS a. rn~lni.wmri1 nf sun. spots, nncl i.n. 1 tW,j-% th.crt7 ' i m s a, ~n t t .~:i i u win . i V w i i ~ Q iyit*itiiinn i,n th,c Was konie warmer'!: rroverl of t E e earth. The tsropicnl zone mould first he t,he most MONTHLY WEATHER REVIEW. JUNE, 1916 346 quantity of litat send ou.t by the swn m&s itspif feh! p r - tidariy an loio latitudes. If the c1imcr.t-e h,ns not- ch.cingrr7, a. change i.n m.ore northern cou.nt&s c m not be ezplcr.i.nc(! by a vwktion in the hea.t miittad by the sun.‘ Arago thou lit that the southward retrogression of the limit of cu Fi tivation for the vine in Frmc.e and Eng- land appeared to show that even in the sist,eenth cenbury the summers had grown warmer t,han they two to-day. He adds, however, “ I do not a t t d i iiiore importance than it deserves to this latter circumstnnc,e. The qudity of the wine depends, indeed, too niuc.li on the nature of the plant ana the care given by the cultivator to permit, that it should furnish unanswerable argument,s i n t.hc question of the change of climate.” This question was the object of a lively discussion iit the International Meteorologicttl Congess a t Paris in 1899. Mascart summarized the result of the discussion as follows: “Oiie has often dle ed the soutlivard retro- ession of the limit of culture o 5 the vine. But tmhis fact %es not prove anything. ~t tt time wlieii trans ortation was difficult one contented hiniself with. vines t P i r t t gave one or two good vintnws in 10 years, vintages that one preserved very carefufiy. The other years uave but a poor drink with which one got along for lac1 of better and which on the other hand perhaps ecpded our artificial wines.” One often cites historic documents to the effect that (luring sonie centuries the vine was cultivatecl cveii in England and that wine wits made there. The first to speak of this is Bede. He says: “Vineas etiain in c uibusdam locis germinas” (Hist. Ecclesinst. t.). I n tmlie homesday BOOG several places are mentionecl wliere t.lie vine was cultivnteci, thus a t Rnyleigh in Esses, where in good ears the vintage yielded ‘30 “modii” of wine from a su 2 acre of 6 Ii arpeniies.” I n certnin old English books we often find mention of places where t,he vine was cul- tivated. Thus, in the time of Bine Eilw2wd 11, wine was on sale from a vine nt’ ~l r ,I >u t in b e t,inie of ~c~wnrcl IV this oulture had stopped. Even in 1GX5 Dr. Ratburst, president of Trinity College, Oxford, ninde from his good claret ns one would wish to drink.” g;!:is always dealing with isobted lncditi.es , and Lord Bacon expressly says that “the gra )es require a south wall to ripen.” But under this c.oncl!ition one cnn cultivat,e them evcn to-day in southern Swveclon. I niyself have seen the nrapes mature a t llittt ha.d heen rec,ordetl two centuries previous. To-day the vintage date at Aubonne has returned csn.ctly to the date for the sisteeiith cent,ury. The ciirve for Dijon, Plat,e I1 [not reproclucetl], also shows a niarked tendency to descend, n return to the ewliest dates of vintage. Therefore it. can not. be a. cluest.ion of a ernia- iieiit cleteriorittion in cliniat,e. Oiie iiiay even go Rrther and advance t$e idea that these slow oscillations ii? the mean epoch of t.he vintage are not due to even periodic changes in the climate. In fact, the three st,ations of Dijon, S a l k , and Auhoiiiie are suficicntly new twwther so that long-periocl variations in c1inint.e sliou13 ruii pn.rcIle1; in any case t.he v~iriat.ii:ins at SRlins ought to he. int.eriiiec1i:i.t.e to those nt, the two other stations. Now a siiiiple ins >ec.tion of the thrce curves is sufficient bo assure oncse I f that not t.hc slighest p:irn.llelisni esists. Analogous rlifl~rcnces occur hetween stathis much closer toget,licr; thus nt the. hcginiiiiig of t,he seventeonth cmtury the nien.11 c1at.e of vintage nt Lavaus was 1D or 12 clays earlier thun thnt at Aubonne, which is nlso locltt.ed on the border of the Lake of Geneva nncl only 85 kilometers distsnt.; a t present t,he nieaii ilifference between the vintage date of these two st.nt.ions is but 1 day. Again, it. is cert,ain t,lixt iii Burgundy the culture of t,he vine has not T-ariecl since :tnt.iquity ; the nnture of the vine stock, the mode of culture, the locnlit,ic.s where the grape develops the best, qualit,ies have 1111 remained the saint ns those described by C’olumelle in his book !‘De re rustica, ” and later by the precise documents on the culture of tlie vine since 13.30 a t Bcaunc, nncl 1430 at, Dijon. We tllso know that since the t h e of Gregory of Tours--t,liat is to say, since tho sisth century, the great mines of 13urguncly have heen produced on the same hills :mil the mnie parts of the hills-ht is to say, the inter- inerliate zono. The sanie vine st,ocks csrried soniewhere else, to another clininte or even to a slightly different nltitucle, give products of no longer recogniza.blo cha.rac.ter. One must then coiiclude from this that for at least 10 centuries the climate of France, nnd of Burgundy in articular, has nota changed in any a precittble fashion. vttrirttioiis which m e tlissiiiiilar in Tery near-by regions, therrforc depend not on changes in the cliniate but! on purely local causes, such ns Sli lit nioditicatioiis in the pla.iit.ing of the vines, iiicrense in t,lw nunihcr of stocks, etc. $he longperiod variations in the cpoc F is of the vintages, nitture of the vine stock or in t f! IC mode of culture, a re- OPENING OF LAKES AND RIVERS. Fro111 Sweden we have uuinterruptccl observ:tt.ions of tlie lweaking up o€ the i,ce since 1712 a t the port oI the town of WesterLs 011 the north shore of Laku Miilareii. In Russia JKIXE, 1916. MONTHLY WEATHER REVIEW. 347 171%172!2 ...... 1723-1732 ...... 1733-1742 ...... 1743-1752 ..... 1753-1712 _.__.. 17&1ii2 ___.. 1773-1782 ._.._. 1783-1592 ...... 17B2-1-1s302 ...... 18MlS12 ...... 1813-1822 ..___. Rykatchev' has published a memoir on tmhe opening of the Russian rivers. The longest series of these is that for the Neva at St. Petersburg (Gre orian calendar) and for former extends without interruption from 1713 and the latter froni 1530, but unfortunat,ely gaps occur particu- larly at the beginning of the sisteent,h and at the end of the seventeenth century. The series is complete from 1709. Observations are recorded in Tables 1 to 3. These tables show that the time of the opening lias varied coii- siderablv from one year to t.he next, .md even the 10-year means differ considerably. Thus Lake MiiLren 1in.s been free froni ice by Ma 8, on the average, during the time has been open by April 27 during 1803-1812 and 18.13- 1852, and by April 26 during 1733-1743, h i t t,he average has been April 17 during the dectti.de 1S53-1S63, while the Dvina (Duna) opened on A ril 4, lSO4-1S12, nnd on have between 1651 and 1712. But on taking the means for Lake Miilareii for the years 1753-1823 = 70 years, one finds A ril 26, while for the years 1823-1893 =70 years, one fin& April 25. Similarly we h d for the Neva froni 1713-1792 =SO years, April 9; from 1793-1862 =70 years, April 8; and li93-1S71=79 years, April 10. For the Dvina (Duna) we have the following table: W1752=106 years.. ........................ .averaged. .March 25 1753-1853=100 years.. ............................ .do.. -.March 26 153&1623=52 years. .............................. .do. .. .March 2s 1626-1750=52 yem. .............................. .do. ... bhrrrh 34 1751-1602=53 yem.. ............................. .du. .. .hIarch 25 1803-1852=50 yeare.. ............................. .do.. . .March 2S 1530-1852=306 years. ............................. .do.. .March 26 the Dvina (Duna) at Mitau ( 5 dim calendarL8 The 1803-1813 and by 1 pril 14 during 1723-1732: the Neva March 16 on the average of t P ie 10 observations that we TABLE l.-BreaL of Ireland for the coldest months Jnnunry-February ; second, the iiieans for Jnii- uary-Februti.ry at. ZT isala, nhout 70 kilomet.ers dist,ant froiii Wcst,crbs ; thiri, t,he day of the year on which the ice went out of the hnrl~or at Westerh. It i s aqtpr- m t thnt t7w dfylcrtures of the .i n t a n t ~~~i t ~~j ~~r ~i l i ~~~r nt U11s~l.a and tf the mtan dntvs at 11'fsteriis a.h ost akiwys 7imw oppositt sips; this is pmticidiirly t.he case if the clepwt- ures are considerablc. A rigorous win.tri- lipm., )eratiire brings a retarded date ?f olwning of 2h.a harbor (in b . a ,?wild ciri.ntei* .i8 folkoivPd by a.n early olwiiang. Now if t,he clat.es of t,he opening of t,lie river have been coiistmit since the Middle Ages the climate has not grown eithcr niorc crint.incnta1 or more nitwine, at leilst to a sensible degree (see illso Pl21t.e 111, not reproclucerl). In m y researches on the cenbers of :tc?t.ion of the ntmos- phere 1 have proved t,hatr t.hc winber temperatures in the Baltic region is cleterniined by the temperature of the ocean between Icdand and Norway. W e see from Plate I11 that with barely t.liree escoptions the departures a t Berufjord and a t Thoishavn have the same sign as those a t up salt^.^ But then one must conclude thnt of the k c in the Dvim (Diina), 1.557-1859. [Ahstract from detailed table.] Tears. I Inter- -- , Val. I Date. i 348 MONTHLT WEATHER REVIEW. JUNE, 1916 ?E- TABLE 4.-Meun tm.pmcrliwe of Janmy and Febrzinry at Tliorshnvn aid Bprzlfjord mid at Upsala, eonqared with the breaking u.p of tlw 018 llcirlaren at Tester&. ITFaaIS mean. -- Depm- ture. -- ‘C. -4.3 0.0 -21 +l. 9 -2. 1 +2.4 -4.5 +4.0 +l. 0 +2.1 +O. 8 +n. 9 +4.4 0.0 +l. 2 i-3.0 +2 5 -1.0 , ......... Miilaren opened. Da 7% 118 135 107 123 112 141 138 122 100 114 110 07 134 122 e7 122 118 I19 YW. - 1875.. ................. 1876.. ................. 1878. .................. 1879 ................... 1980 ................... 1881 ................... Is32 ................... 1983 ................... 1884 ................... 1885 ................... is86 ................... 1887 ................... im.. ................. 1m.. ................. 1691.. ................. 1692 ................... Means.. ............... 1977.. ................. isss.. ................. .... Drpar- t i m . DOY. +1 -1 +I li -12 +? - .+ 32’ +?o + :i -19 - 5 -9 -22 +1s +3 -22 +a -1 ......... T h m ham Bnl BmII- i d m a . e. +l. 6 +1.8 +1.5 +0.5 +2.8 -2 8 +1.5 +3.0 +1.5 +LO -0.6 +20 ao +2v +25 -1.2 +O. 9 -a a -0.6 SLTPPOSED CHANGE IN THE CLIMATE OF ICELAND. It has often been claimed that t,lie climate of Icelnnd has grown more severe since its colonization, because the forests that once covered the island “froni the mount:nins to trhe shore” (Fra fjeld til strand) have almost, clisa )- eared, while agriculture and cattle raising have great I y !Lien off. However, the Icelander, Th. Thoroddsen,. professor tit. Copenhagen and the greatest authority on his native isle. has recently proved that these changes have resulted from econoniic a.nd oli,ti.c.cnl causes-i. e., t,liey arc due to man and not t.0 a (I K anfyc i.n the cZi.mnlP. As for tlie forests, some of them still remain in thc unsettled portions of northern Iceland, but one must, ohverve that in Iceland one &ill cdls t.he brush of clwnrfed birch (Bctd<~ alhu.) with scnttered esaniples of Sorbus an.mipa.ria, Safit hybicifoli.a, aiicl S a h glauca by the ntxme of forests ( ff kogar) as in other days, not meaning the bnll forests as in. Europe. One occasionally finds N birch 6 to 9 nieters hlgh in x well-sheltered valley. The LLforcsts” of other dnvs did not, have taller trees. I n the pent bogs occur fossil trees whose dimensions arc as small as those of to-dny. :uid trlw oltlcst Icelaiidic aiinal (Saga, pl. Sagor) nientioiis persons going to Nor- way tmn hiiy wood from which t.o h i l d trlieir liousrs. At, t#lie beginning of the elercnt,li century St.. Old, king of rant,erl the I c e h i &~s the right to tske wood If Iceltind heranie depopulated, uncloul~tdy the sliruh- berp would r+wood the island, hut ?t, prcsciit, t,he iiiimcnse flocks of sheep living in the o p ~n air throiighout. t,he y :w devour t,he huds of the plnn t.s RS t h y w e hcginninq to put, ont.. ‘l’hc ~Ic(~:ren.w iii forests lias tlicrrforv not~liing to do with thr cliinat~e. It hws hcc~l t.hn snlnc with th,c rrncit.rrt Ic&dbc n g G c w h r c . The !i I’S t, co I oil is ts, H c w s t.m ir( 1 t,i ) wi 1. t iv;i,t,~ t,lic? soil, st.;irted in iiiinicdi;i.t.cly with this !dwr in tdicir. 1 1 (v - country &o: 1n1tj itgricult,ll YV i i i ~I -, with jliior s ~~s s . Enrlr;v (IZt,rt/rwnj, w )!/t ~;v ~) \\-a< t .h 0n!y grniii sowii, ns was 1.11~ ciistoiu :it. t,li;it. t.inii. iii iiortJicvi N~~rw:i.y :iiitl still preriiils bt1:t.y iii Swm1i:sli IA:t~~lii.niL; l)utv ptii~rixll~ bade.\- only ripeiicd in vcq- gooil yciirs. 1 1 1 pcwernl, otic could not iiinlie hrc,zd o f it., d y gruel ri.liil hpor; hut :is t.liey had iio 110 1s i t was nec:c~ss~i.y to prc1)nre the hrer imniediately be ! ore using it; and it S~CLUS to have often -0.4 +l.9 -3.7 +0.6 +2l +0.6 +0.1 -1.5 -1.5 -0.9 +PO -21 +i.i +i.a .......... happened, RS the ancient records relat,e, t.hnt, ‘i Qie beer WRS had mid tflie diners reni:tined soher.” In fact,, hrend \vas regarded as a t’are IUJU:~J, and the little that oiie had of it was gaiiarallg imported. In 1174 the archhisho ) at Niclaros (I)ront,lioini 1 received thc right to oxport to ’r celand “ taiginta lcstn fitrintt.” Farim is trailslated hy .iwioZ,; that is to my, the inenl of barley in the Icelandic test.I0 The pricc! of ‘I niiol ” in Iceland was very liigh in t,he year 1200. One cl.oulcl buy a good cow or a horse for 104 k. of niiol. To tiikn the place of bread tho 1ccl:tnclex-s nte clriccl fish (skwi/7). The accounts of the bishop a t Holm for tho pcnr 1374 show that, in that j-car there had heaii consumed S,SOO pcl. of “ skreid,” tic7i;in rvilqgnrt-’) and white hrcatl were cxtreniely rnrn :ir- t.irles at. t.hat time t,ht?la niicl whe;i in 133’7 Llic pope forbade t h usc of barley and beer in ce1el)rating the Holy ncra- nicnt, the hishops of Skalliolt ohtniiind n monopoly of im ~orting w h a t niitl wine for thc churches. it is true that barley had h e n c.ultivntec1 in 1c.eland for bhree or four liuiidrecl years, hut, step by step and to tho estcii t that t,he importcd grain becanio clienpw-particu- lnrly after the heginning of English conin1orc.e about the middle of the fifteenth century-its cultivtxtion hns diminishecl and iinnlly has almost csnsed. B7ct th,r Cam!W. of this climi;ii~~ti.on~ is purely ecoiromic ntid hns rtoth.i;ii.g a,t (161 to do with th,e cl.imntc.’l The great herds of cattle and of sheep tire raised on the brond \-t?rdnnt plains. Wo 1in.v~ sem that much huttm was (!inisunicd. III fact, iwory p i s a n t lived froin thc prodiicts of his I I L I !~~ ;i.iiIl t.lic: wily tliiiigs that, lit! hncl to hny uhroa~rl were t-lw wood, iron, n r d salt, for which lin pit1 iii woolei I c..loth. whil:h wxs Iqpl tender. But xs c0111111erc.c. dcvclopcd m e wwhl swiirc bread, beer, ttntl mn.tiy other produc:t.s, whivli cmtrilmted to makc the l d l of fwc of thi? 3eastii1 ts niorc a.grccal>le and his whole life niort? cwnifort.n \ de. But tho c:ttt.le, under the rcry priniit:irt! nix1 piior niet.liods of r:iisjng, pave procluc!ts not. suited to export, while t,lit? wool IS greittly sought nft.w ahrontl. tvi-tvi to-thy, an11 together with iiali const.itut.es the most iniportmit artit!le of esport. For this rwsoii cnnic tho st,eilily dcr:rc~.il.sn ii) cattli-! rais- ing, tho incrensing flocks of shccp in I(:e.l:~i;(l, niicl ,iaot at crll hecmcse of a change &ti. c h i a t e . The suniniers tlicre are cold, a.bout8 + 1O0C., anilthr wintern are not, rigorous. But from t.inw to t h e it, iwiiies to pms t,liti t iiin.sses of floiAig polar icc est.cii t l clown t,o the north- ern const, of Icel2tiid and, clrireii hy t,lie current froni west t,o mst,, drift, down t,o it,s east, coast,. lhtler those circuni- stances the whole nort41ieastern portion is blockaded by the ire and on rsre occasions the polnr ice even estencis to the sout.11 coatst,. Such n hlocknde by the icc always brings in its t,rain R very cold senson. The sheep, which as we liare just seen niva-p lire iii t,Iie open, tIieii die in p a t numhers alii1 i f the ice remaitis until spring or wen into tlie siiniiiier x famine results. According t.o the ancient rwor~Is, it hns severs1 h i e s Iin q)e.ned thnt nirii have to piiss t,lln.t t.11~ aged or the iiivcilid wore put, to drath in order t.0 eaca.pc? the i~c~cessit~y of frerliiig them. Every Icelmcler knows t h t , tt. yl-.i~r of denrtli is caused hy t~ more It :qqw:irs tl1:I.t t.l:c ii,\-cr:~cc position of thc po1a.r ice h:is iic.)t cIi;iugctl in t.lic1 vi(*itiit,y of Icelanil since t>he date of tlic 1irs.t dc?sc.riptioil of t4lintS count.ry, for mliicli we iiitlcht.cd t.o tlic inoiili l)ccuilus, who livctl ii.lmit, the ycar S25. He says that tlrc. SIVI. titiorit [ceol~:/d i.s gr~ir.wdhl opm, 7,ZOO ~t l . butter, ti.11~1 011ly 6O 1~1. of flour. Whettt (T1.i- A s is well kiiown, Icelancl’s c1inint.e is nioriiie. diet1 of sl;ari-:i.t.ioii hy thr 1111111lret \ , ant1 it, lins even coiiie or less stq-pre hli>(:Ii:& of the cc.l:ists. -6.8 -23 -9.2 -0.7 -3.i -26 -3.9 -3.8 -4.7 -3.5 -1.7 -5.7 -4.7 -a3 -2 a 10 Wheat flour is lrrili or llur in l ~~l m d i r . 11 It is thus with Icelmdic agriculture 3s it is with the grape culture of northern Fmce. JUNE, 1916. ..................... MONTHLY WEATHER REVIEW. ............................................... 1601 .................. lsol ............................... 1402 ............................ lW2 ........ ................................................................... lm ........ ................................................................... 1505 ........ 1306 ................ : .................................... ....................................... 1507 I i 1907 ............................................... 1810 .......................... ............................................... I .................... lso4 ........ .......... .................. ............................... 140s ........ ! llm ..................... ......................................................... !...iiog is09 im {‘but on sa.iling for ada:y toward the north one meets thefrozen 8m.” This is in. pe$ect a.ccord with what one experiences M a y du&y those yea.rs uAen there .is n.o ice blockade. One gmemGUy mtets the edge of the ice ad a. distance of one day’s travel (in the boats qf those times) n.orth. of Gb. e La;nganes. the ice blockades of Iceland were less severe than they we to-day, since the plienonieiion is rarely described in the oldest annals, although very frequently after the end of the thirteenth century. Thoroddsen replies t1ia.t t’liis is for the simple remoil t.fiat the a.iiiiual records beghi only at the end of tlie thirteenth century. l l i e ancient- records, the “sagor,” describe t h life and cust.onis of the dis- tinguished fnniilies. Nevert.heless, one oftmen 1iieet.a there- in witli accounts of years of dearth, horrible. fmiiiies, rig- orous winters. et.c. : in other words, the o r d i ~i ~!/ rrsldts qf &e ice 1YooefiaL7~s. Also they frequently speak of the white olar bears which viait,ed Icel~nd only across the ice. hl eir uunihers must, have been rather large, because bhe church inveiit,ories oft>eii nient,ionetl the skins of t.he whitme bears on whicli t.l:e priests Imeel before the altar in winter. One of the first, colonists, Flokivilgerclarson, looking from the summits of a iiiouiitaiii in the spring of Y65 A. D., saw the fjords 011 the northwest filled with ice, and for this mason he iinmecl be iiiw country Islande, i. e., the land of ice. But in that year the ice blockade must have been very widespread for it is only in such a case that the northwestelm f’ords :we filled with ice. Thoroddsen h tts found in t,he old annals the description of eight years of famine during the tenth century and of six during the eleventh. But here it is n case of estraordinary famines only, when “ llieil die by the liu1idreds,” “when they ate foxes and crows,” “when they killocl the old and the weak,” eto. The eiid of the twelft81i century niid tlie beginning of 6he thirteenth was a period during which famines were of terrible frcquoncy. According to Pet- temoii, of the 5s years, 1391-3348, at least 29 must ~R F O been yews of clenrth, but Tlioroddseii roniarks that this is an error. According to the registers there were 43 years of average yield, 12 >vnrs of dearth, aud 3 very good years. During this period there also occurred volcanic eruptions a nundm of times and also earth nakes, but BGcor&iig to him, without doubt tho fourtr ? e nth century brought severe periods, but it was exceeded in this respect by the seventeenth century. T h s , as uw 7i.m~ seen. udrn. strrdy8)i.g t7w brenkhg up qf the riverg, uv here$iid cr.gn:b severe periods alteritating ,with warm on.e8,l2 but one can.not dcmollstru,te a c1~n1i.gai.n. cl.imate. There are nunierous ctccounts of serere winters and of freeziii of the seas from niitiquity dowi to the )reseiit.lJ ological Institute, has long been studying all accounts of these phenonieiin in Danish waters which he has been able to hd, and has recently published the results of his researches in a very interesting memoir. * * * l4 After having spent several years studying and critically discussing the details of the recorded conditions of the winter ice in the waters about, Denmark, Capt. Speer- schneider has drawn up the following. table (Table 5) of severe wintei4 during which some portions of these waters have been filled with ice. Petternson says that, in earlier times it wou 4 d seem that these henomena have not,liing to do with t 1 e climate. SEVERE WINTERS AND FREEZING OF THE SEAS. Capt. 8 I. H. Speerschneidcr, of the Royal Dsnis h Meteor- ...................... 13 O h there is a whole series of years when the Icelandic coasts are relieved of the ice blockade e. g l.%l-1654 and 1903-1910 in our timap u One bf the’lsrgest of these compilations is that hy Baron Ehrenlieim in his fsremell addregs before the Ac3demy of Sciences at Stockholm in lLW, viz, Om Climaternas r(lrllghet (The variations of climates). ~#perr$chnridcr, C. I . H . Om isforlioldene i Danske farvande 1 eldre of nyere tid. Aarme 6W-18M). (Danlsh Meteorol. Instit.. Pnhliration. Mitt. 2.) [This p a p war abstracted In this REVIEW, May. 1915,G: 236, and Its eontents need not lm here repeated.-c. A., Jr.] ................................................................... lSll . ............................................... i I .................... 1513 ............................... ........I :: ...... I __ 1615 1715 ........ ..................................................... 1716 ........ ....................................... 8 .................................... ........................................ , ........................................................................... ....................................... ! ............................ 1Y14 ............................................... .................. 1320 ..... ._.i.. ...... .......... TABLE 5.-Secere winters in Danbh iunters. ................................ ..................... ....................................... ............................... ........... I ...........I XI. I XIII. I SIV. I xv. I SVI. I ATII. I SVIII. I SIX. I XX. 1421 ........I 1821 .......... 1s21 1521 I ............................ ............................................... ! 1 8 2 .................. 1323 1.123 ........ ! .................... 1 1 3 ........................................................................... 14213 ........I .......... 17% ........ ..................... ........I ........ I ............................ ............................................... I .................... 1*27 .................... 1439 I 1 6 s .......... 1829 ........... I ........... j ........... i ...................... ........... I .......... ............ 12tV ......... ..I: : : : ...................... ........... i .................... ........I .................................... ............................ .................. ........ ! 1751 9 ................................ it^ .................. .................................................... l€ 53 ........................................................................... I .......................... 1W , 1755 ........ .................................... 1t:58 i .................. I ’ I ............................................................................ 1337 ............................................. 135s 145s ! ........ lli5S ! 175s 1 1 5 ........... 1160 ................... 1it.W 15W ............................... ............................ 104s ..................... .. .................... ..................... 1319 I::::::..I .................................... ........... .......... ! ................ ..........I .......... l ?l .......... I.. .......................................... ........... (TI ..........I ................ llX3 1iC3 ........... ....................................................... i ........ I ........ 166S 1765 ........... I ........................... I ........ 1tXi 176; ........ llj70 177) 1 15il .......... 1 7 ........... : 1572 .......... 1772 1674 I 1774 li7G ..................... ............................ ..................... ..........I ........ ............... 176s ........... ............................ ............................ ........ .................... 15i3 .......... .......... ........... ........... ..........I ........ I ........ l K 7 17,; ...... .....I. ......... :::::::::: 1::: ::::: 1.. ...... ::: :::::::!. ......... ............................... ........I ............................ ........... 1::::: : : : : : ...................................................... .................... ....... I. I .......... I ....................................... ’ 1563 ............................ 1.- .......I 1R% 131 ....................................... i .................. 1235 ............................... i .................. 17SS ....................................... 1590 ............................ ..................................... ..,........ ............................ i ....................................... I:””-’*; 1ss9 .......... ‘ 1759 ............................... ........ ........... 12% .................. ! 15% .......... 17SB ........... I ____._____ .................. l 5 S i ............................ ....................................... I 1691 .................... .......... ....................................... i 1 .i ~ 1792 ....................................... 151w .................... ..................... 1394 ........ I ....................................... 1595 lW5 1795 ........... 1298 ...................................................... ............................................... 1697 .......... ....................................... 1 ....... 1688 .................. .......................................................... 1800 .................................... ..................... 1399 ........ 1 - 1599 .......... 1799 ....... 1912 Is48 lS6l ........ 1865 1867 1s88 1870 1S71 ........ ........ 1979 18W 1m1 ........ ........ 1886 . 1S8 1 8 1 1.W 1% P397 lsoo ........ ........ 350 MONTHLY WEATHER REVIEW. JUNE, 1916 The series is complete since 1750 down, and during this period we have had severe winters as follows [in Den- mark]: 1750-1799, 33 times; 1500-1849, 21 times; 1850- 1599, 31 times. Table 6 shows how many years have been marked by floating ice and how inany years have permitted tr&c on the ice in the different portions in the Danish waters. TABLE 6.-Nui,iber qf yenrr with $oatiy ice (cpliimn I) nnd with trciflc zipon the .ice (eolzom 11) 'tn Daiash waters. century. Fpurteenth ..... Fifteenth. ...... Sluteenth.. ..... Seventeenth.. .. Eighteenth.. ... lerd of i i i o t h i n t r l c s with t,lir t1iic:kness of blie gllacier: aucl this is tleter1niItc.d by tho dept.1~ of the nBv6 just, as t8he water of t.lie river iiicrcnses or tliiiiiiiishes nccnrcling to the discharge ut. its source. The neve is foriiietl hy the sum of the layer:: o.€ s~iow faUeii during the preceding p n r s mid nccmnul&ng one upon the other. In :iccuiiiulntic~i?s of t.liis iinture there are vnriations of loiig period. for, :is we have pointed oiit above, there arc? series of pears when the tempcrat,urr, or the amount, of r a i n i d or sliowfnll, is greater or less t.hnn the normal. 80 t,li:i t it suffices, tis n cti.use of t.lie v:wiiit.ion in t,he 1engt.h of t,he glacier, to liuiit, for v:irint,ions in t,he Peptli of t,he upper purt, of the glacier, rn.ria.t~ions coiitiiiumg in the same diyectiou t.liroughout, long periods of many piis. Heim 2 has very properly ciilled 11 glacier a cl,i,m.ntoin eleta. MI t,he Swiss glticiers show iiiovoiiicn t.s generally of t,he sniiie However, the siiinllesto glaciers and those linviiig nii nhrupt, slope begirl t-o nclvance, and to retreat, soinewlint eurlirr thmi t.lio large mes. Conse- quently it, happens in certain years that, the movements of two plnciers arc of opposite sign. But w e may not go into iiiore detail here regnrdinp the Flacieiu. The oiily questioii that interest,s us at, prescnt IS: Hns there been n c h ~i g e in the esteiit of the gliiciers in historic times ? All students tlint, have considered this question n.oTee that i~ tlw Xiddlr Aqcs tlw E X t c M qf the ,41.1ine g ~c i e r s qras 1cE;s t1c an. .i.t .is to-+/, but that toiua;xf the ?n:iddlt. @f t7it eixtt.c.tlth i -t t i h i ~r ~y bht!{ beqfl.11. to UdVanm in. G. disqwiot.i./ig .itintiriar. Tliis is well proved. For esn.niple, Polybius nieti tioiis gold and silver mines _____-_~ - $1 f i r d F. A. Es.d sur Ics wri:dioiu i:r'.rlodi~luvs ilc g13 12 ~c i ~n , '4. Hnndlruch der Clelsrlierliundc p. 500. :a Accprdjn,. to Heim m e dpes mid such s phIc11sm betweeu the m0vement.s oi dl et nst.. i:kutwe. WI. the glaciers of Europe md Asu. 352 MONTHLY WEATHER REVIEW. JUNE, 1916 in the Hoheii Tauern that were still exploited in the Middle Ages. But at the inicldle of the sisteeiitli century all the workings were covered by n glacier. In 1570 the sheet of ice had ti depth of 25 meters, which increased to 100 meters during the eigIiteentli century and then decreased. About lSS0 the depth was only 40 meters and lltter during periods of retreat, it lins wine to pass that the tl6l)ris of wrecked builclings linve reappeared aft.er having been int.cimd in t,lie ice dniost, 500 years. According t,o t.lie record of the cliurcli nt Grinclelwald there w i s an nlniost. uniiit,errupt,ed series froni 1559 t.0 1563, of winters wi1.h very little siiow and often w r y wariii suiiiiiiers. ~r o m 1565 to 15~0, on the otlier liiiiid, there was n period of very siiowy winters. Tiius in t.he middle of the cei1tui.j- or a.hou t! 1W.I tliere coiiiiiieiicecl :i period of est,reiiitl regressioii, cluiiiig which t,he lower g1:lacier of the Grindelw.?'ld did iiot. pnss the upper rocks (die ol?ern Fliihel , while iroiii 1565 on the u6r8s hare been increasing. In 15SO the glacier hegnn to 1xi.s~ heyoncl the rocks and to descend int.0 t,lie gorge: in 1554 the chapel of Ssint,r- PQtroiiellc \viis overt.iirned,24 and in 1 FjSQ a barn was destroyed : in 1593 the glacier reaclied to the rillnge, invaded two clialets nucl a large. number of lmriis? niid shifted tlie bed of the Blnck Liit,scliine and of the Rergel- bacli. A road hetween Ohrrwallis and Grindelwnlcl was lmried heneti.t.li the ice. During t,lw grent rrtretit, of the glnciers froiii 1SGO-1 SSO portims of t.liis rimd were seeti t.o mqqwar.2z A4ccordiiig to Hsiiii .it .is not possiblr, f o str!~ ~t I ~7 t t ~f 7 i .c ~ .t(v are tzpproa.chi.n.g a iww ghcrtvkl prriod or ~to71,eth.er .IPC 1i.n m a to do wit7i, (I. Eoitp sfcubtlr ,t*firiatioir. iri th.c (rlnn'er )rtoiv~r;iYihts. THE BEMU.\TN8 OF ANClEXT FORESTS 1 3 SWEDEN. Sonic hntaniubs 1i:ive niniiitainecl that. Swden's cliiiiate Scaiiiliiiltriaii A! !IS wliiE-! otic iiiids t.hu (?\-idmt r!ui:iiti3 has grown c@l:ll!Y bc?cansc; t,o-dap fl>I.cst.s (-N!t?lll- only I )I l t .h ? of fort!st,n tiint. lI:Il-i! hll rl!?Strl)>-(>d. 111 f:\t't t.ho ro- se:l:.Chi?s il: $7,Y.!!ii~ll ~i !?!:l l l l 1 :1.!')llz t'll4? (I;l< A I 1 i.1 1) Y t. i (: i! i r1.1.ly t 110s~ hy C i 11 v + lin,?B hive ~>rorc?tl t,ha t, r:i.thclr r:weiit. reiiiaiiis of clc!:i.cl trees nm to bc foaiiil nlmost. ~s -i ~i y v l i t ~~! :~l .~u v c ~ t,lie u p p r liniit of t,lic? coniftw. It i s pnrficvlrrrl!y t?ra p i n m (Pin tis si/~~r~fst.ris ) flmf h t r w p r i d i r d : thc! rciiiniiis of the spruco (P.i,nns uLips ) OP of thc birches are rather rare. But obsnrmtions hare ulso shown that forests often spring up lqain. The t,ruth probably is tlint the forests u.lon0 their liniit of voget,at,ion. increase during a certain nuni'i;er of yoa.rs, following w1iicli nnotlior series of yea.rs with escessivc cold kills tlicni off. Tlicn after a new series of years with iiiild wintnrs they iigaiii bogin to grow up. But higher up in tlic region of birclics and even above it we iind in t,lie swimips and bogs c unntibios of suhfossil piiic )rohnbly dnting from the "At\nnt.ic and sul~hor~!a.l poriijc \ " o f S(+i*linlidCr during wliich the t.cnipr:ttutw wax3 so high t,liat, 1mx4 nuts nintured in Lapland. From t.his tinit? iilso prr 15nbly tlnto tlio oaks burid in t.he snililg shores of the C ' l u i ~ ltiror in Verniland wliirdi one often finds tlier!l.C: burietl at, :I depth of 2 to 4 nir:tcm heiieitth the surfaco of thc! soil in locdities iiiuch f:wt.hcr 1iort.h t.linn the. pnwnt limit. of tlie oak. w-e will 11CJt here go i1it.o further details concf!rtiing t;hese interc:st.inw c uestions to which a. final a.iiswcr 1ia.s not yet beon foinh. CONCLUSION. Our researches have led to the result thnt there sxkt everywhere cliinntic variations of long and s71.ol.t durutim, but .it .is not possible to prove that the &mute of Europe has ch.m.ged for either better or worse d.uring historic times. P. S.-"As I ani closing these researdies [last signa- ture WRS printed Dec. 14, 19151 I am in recei t of the intmeatin mclnioir by Prof. J. W. Gregory "Is &e Earth Drying ug p 8 lJZ7 which contains a criticisin of the theories put foiward by Prince Kropatkin and Prof. Ellsworth Huntiiigton that our enrtli is steadily Towing drier and drier. Gregory's researches have led im to the same roault I havo reached. "One fact, J J he sags, 'i does seem to me to result clear1 from tho evidence; there have been many widespreaJclimatic changes in late geolouic t.iines, whle in historic times there has been no woryd- wide change of climate." VIOLENT EASTEELY WINDS AT TATOOSE ISLAND, WASH. By RALPH C. MIZE, Observer. [Dated: Weather Bureau, Tatoosh Island, Wash., Mar. 18,1816.] Wires and shrubber on Tatoosh Island received a hemy coating of ice driw the prevalence of a strong easterly breeze on the eaay morning of February 1, between easterly storms. The riggmg of the radio station was covered with from t to f inch, varying with elcvation from ground level to 250 feet above, and the ui?rial was torn awa by the escessive we' h t of the ice. mately 75 feet, but t.he coating on the upper 175 feet tis not appreciably diminished until it was cracked by the swaq-ing of the cables, and torn loose by the unusual violence of the east-northeast storin of February 3. Flying fragments of ice made travel dangerous in tho riciiiity of the radio station and the Wetither Bureau station throughout that day and night; and theframents broke all the easterly windows in the Weather Bureau building. The barograph record shows false rises of 0.04 to 0.lOinch from 4:50 m. (when the officewindow up (see fig. 1). Thawing estended, B uring the day, to a heig 'gh t of approxi- broke) to about 7:30 p. rn. w g: en the window was boarded Flii. L-Dsrogram for Feb. 1-3. 1918, at Tatoosh Island, Wash., showing false rises on the W (r:EO-7:30 p. m.), doe to broken wmdow. 2: Gngory, J . IF: In The Geographical J m l , London, 1814,43: ZXX318.