Von Siemens' recent Theories. 45 differences exist between the continental and insular types, since on islands the morning minimum is unusually large and the afternoon minimum so small as to disappear, while in continental types the reverse conditions obtain. Werner Von Siemens, in answering Sprung's criticism on his general air currents, after repelling certain statements of Sprung, describes his own theories, which are worthy of restating: 1. All winds are caused by the disturbances of indifferent equilibrium, and the motion of the air is to restore equilibrium. 2. These disturbances are caused through overheating of the layers of air near the surface of the earth by insolation, through unsymmetrical cooling of the higher layers by radiation, and through the heaping up of air masses caused by obstructions. 3. The disturbances are adjusted by ascending currents, wherein the particular species of acceleration occurs in which the increase of velocity is proportioned to the diminution of pressure. 4. The upward currents correspond to equally great descending currents in which there is a decrease of velocity corresponding to the acceleration in the upward velocity. 5. If the region of overheating of the air is limited locally, a local upward current reaching to the highest layers of air arises, and whirlwinds appear with interior spirally ascending currents and outside similar spiral descending currents. The result of this is dispersion of the superfluous heat of the lower air by which the adiabatic equilibrium is disturbed throughout the whole column of air taking part in the whirling motion. 6. In case the region of disturbance of the indifferent (or adiabatic) equilibrium is very extensive, as, for example, the whole of the tropical zone, the temperature adjustment can no longer be accomplished by locally ascending whirls, and a whirling current must then arise involving the whole atmosphere. The same conditions apply to these as to the local whirls of accelerated upward motion and retarded descent in such a manner that the velocity at different altitudes arising from heat converted to work is approximately proportional to the prevailing pressure at the place. 7. In consequence of the meridional motion produced and maintained by conversion of heat into work, the whole atmosphere in every latitude must rotate with approximately the same absolute velocity. Thus the meridional currents produced by overheating combine with the currents embracing the whole wind system of the earth, with the result of disseminating the excess of temperature and humidity of the torrid zone over the temperate and arctic zones, thereby producing the prevailing winds. 8. This is accomplished by the production of alternating local depressions and elevations of barometric pressure by the disturbance of indifferent equilibrium in the upper layers of the air. 9. "Highs" and "lows" are a consequence of the temperatures and velocities of the upper currents. Whence it follows that the most important problem of meteorology is the investigation of the causes and consequences of the disturbance of indifferent equilibrium of the atmosphere, and the weightiest problem in weather prediction is the investigation of the geographical origin or extraction of air currents pursuing their course above us toward the pole. In Pomortsew's treatise on synoptic meteorology, published in Russia, there are full chapters on prediction of weather, whether from synoptic charts, from observations at a single place, or from prognostics of great length based on researches on the succession of warm and cold months. It also contains Pomortsew's investigations on the types of pressure distribution in eastern Europe, as well as the average path of cyclones. The favorable opportunities afforded by the Eiffel tower have been utilized by French meteorologists. M. Angot states that during the anti-cyclone of November, 1889, the temperature on the tower was several degrees higher than below. The change of weather set in earlier, with a strong and warm wind, on the tower, while the air at the ground was cold and calm. Wind observations on the tower show a ratio of 3.1 at that height (303 meters) to the velocity at a height of 21 meters, as determined from 101 days' observations, which, remarkable at such a small height, discloses the peculiarity of high mountain stations. Partsch, writing on evidence of climatic changes within historical times in the Mediterranean region, remarks that too much attention has been given to changes in crops, the introduction of plants, and the limits of domestic animals. He states that existing information as to the harvest time of ancient days indicates an unchanged climate, while the land-locked lakes in Tunis, which afford the best evidence on rainfall variation, show absolutely no climatic change. Recent Advances in Meteorology. 47 Van Bebber, in writing on weather types, claims that a line. drawn from the center of a cyclone perpendicularly in the direction of the heaviest gradients will in general be perpendicular to the subsequent path of the "low," and that these lows leave high temperature on the right hand. Hill, in describing hail-stones and tornadoes in India, explains them on the principle of the great diminution of temperature upwards in the air, but a critic, in combating this theory, objects to the high and low stations selected to show temperatures. The so-called "weather plant" of the tropics has passed through the process of investigation with the usual result. It appears surprising that in these days it should be believed that any plant or animal can foretell weather 48 hours in advance, particularly after considering the vast amount of proof as to the enormous rapidity with which weather-changes progress from day to day. Hugo Meyer, in treating the precipitation of central Germany for the ten years ending in 1885, pertinently remarks that the same significance does not attach to the same rainfall for all places and different times of the year, for this average value is not the amount most likely to fall in any particular interval of time, since there is a limit to the extent of the negative deviations on one side-that is, O or no rainfall, while on the positive side there is no limit. The most probable depth of rainfall, therefore, is less than the mean value, the preponderance of negative over positive deviations being about 10 per cent. and sometimes as great as 20 per cent. Professor W. M. Davis wrote an interesting review of Professor Ferrel's popular treatise on the winds, published a year ago. Commenting on the review, the editor of Meteorologische Zeitscrift, Vienna, remarks on a very important omission in the treatise, namely, the absence of all reference to the diurnal variation of the wind and the many interesting relations it bears to other phenomena, a notable omission in a treatise specially devoted to winds. The treatment of the monsoon wind and its relation to the general circulation is highly commended by the editor, and indicated as being all new. Your Vice-President has elsewhere expressed his opinion that monsoon winds, applying the term by liberal construction to signify winds which recur with returning seasons, cannot with any degree of correctness be asserted to prevail in the United States. It is true that the prevailing surface winds of the greater part of the United States come from the western quadrants-that is, between southwest and northwest-and so are in substantial harmony with the general atmospheric circulation as shown by the upper-wind currents of Mount Washington (from the northwest) and Pike's peak (from the southwest). But, apart from the easterly and northeasterly trades on the Florida coast, it appears from the records that in no case for any considerable section of the country do 50 per cent of the winds blow, for any consecutive number of months, either from any single point or from two neighboring points of the compass. Occasionally, however, the local configuration of the country is such that winds are drawn up or down valleys, and, being diverted from their free and proper direction, the wind in such cases follows the trend of the valley or depression. In general your Vice-President would feel inclined to refer only casually to the work proceeding from the Bureau over which he has the honor to preside, but this year has been marked by special researches and investigations of general interest. As the work of investigation has been entrusted to the professors of the Signal Service, due credit should not be refused them from their own official chief. Special reference should be made, to the work of Professor Charles F. Marvin, whose successful experiments on wind pressures and velocities have attracted the attention of experts both in Europe and in this country. Unfortunately there was available only a small sum (about one hundred dollars) for the expense of experiments, but with this petty sum, supplemented by his ingenuity, Professor Marvin has very satisfactorily determined the coefficients of the various forms of the Robinson anemometer, with which instrument the velocity of the wind is very generally determined. Following these investigations, the Royal Meteorological Society of England reopened the question, which, after a costly set of experiments with results widely differing from those of Professor Marvin, had been considered closed. The general results of these researches, which are believed to be sufficiently definite for general questions, are not only prized by the scientist, but they are of value to the engineer and the builder. Indeed, to all interested in costly structures or extended works liable to harm from wind pressures, the factor of safety is Investigations in the U. S. Signal Office. 49 a matter of no small pecuniary importance. These experiments show that, as was formerly believed to be the case, the wind pressure varies as the square of the velocity of the wind, expressed in miles per hour; but a most important fact has developed, namely, that the pressure in pounds per square foot is equal to the miles of hourly velocity multiplied by 0.004 instead of 0.005, as was formerly assumed. Professor Marvin was not content with one system of experiments, but he further attacked the problem in a direct manner by a method which checked and verified his experiments with the whirling machine. On the summit of Mount Washington, at an elevation of 6,300 feet, he obtained simultaneously and under the same conditions, by automatic and electrical apparatus, continuous registration of the pressure of the wind in pounds per square foot and of the velocity in miles per hour. The results thus verified can be considered as conclusive from a general standpoint. The corrections for the Robinson anemometer thus determined from these experiments are comparatively unimportant at low velocities, say from 10 to 15 miles per hour, being only a fraction of a mile per hour. The uncorrected velocities, however, are in all cases too large, and by greater and greater amounts the higher the velocity. At 60 miles per hour the observed velocities are about 12 miles per hour too high, and for an indicated velocity of 90 miles the experiments show that the actual velocity is but a fraction over 69 miles per hour. The anemometer formula found to satisfy most closely the entire range of experiments has the following form for velocities in miles per hour: Log. V 0.509 +0.9012 log. r. This difference indicated by the formula may seem small and insignificant, as it is in the case of light winds, but at very high velocities the differences are very great. For instance, an actual velocity of 60 miles per hour may occur at some time in almost any locality of the United States for a few minutes, and even greater velocities are occasionally reported, apart from severe tornadoes. Under the old coefficients for the Robinson anemometer an actual velocity of 60 miles per hour would have been reported as 77 miles per hour, which under the old factor of 0.005 would mean a pressure of 29.6 pounds per square foot; but when considered with reference to the true velocity of 60 miles, under 8-NAT. GEOL. MAG., VOL. III, 1891. |