Societies and Academies

Abstract

LONDON. Royal Meteorlogical Society, December 17.—Mr. C. J. P. Cave, president, in the chair.—R. C. Moss-man and Mr. C. Salter: The great rain storm at Don-caster, September 17, 1913. On that day during a period of disturbed weather, a very heavy and local fall of rain took place in the vicinity of Doncaster. The storm lasted fourteen hours, and in that time more than 4 in. of rain fell at six stations, of which four had more than 5 in. The small area embraced by the heavy rain is shown by the circumstance that more than 4 in. fell over only sixty-one square miles, while more than 0-50 in. fell over 2336 square miles. Over the latter area 47,330 million gallons of water were precipitated. No adequate explanation of the storm can be ottered, and the phenomenon affords an opportunity for special investigation.—Dr. J. E. Church, Jun.: Recent studies of snow in the United States. The author first gave a description of the snow sampler and weigher, which is an instrument he has designed for quickly measuring the depth and the water content of snow upon mountains. He then referred to some of the phases of the snow problerti which were susceptible of solution by the aid of this, instrument, and showed that the evolution of the snow leads directly to the practical problem of the relation of mountains and forests to the conservation of snow. This is of vital interest wherever irrigation is essential to agriculture, as in the western portion of the United. States and in Australia. It is also closely related to the problem of stream control.—C. E. P. Brooks: The meteorological conditions of an ice sheet and their bearing on the desiccation of the globe. As the regions-occupied by extensive ice-sheets at the present day, viz. Antarctica and Greenland, are the centres of permanent high-pressure areas, with slight precipitation, the author infers that the regions occupied by similar ice-sheets in the glacial period were likewise occupied by permanent anticyclones. The maximum extent of glaciation occurred at about the same time in different regions, of the globe, and also coincided with the maximum of the pluvial period, or period of greater rainfall than the present, in the unglaciated regions. But a general decrease in temperature should lead to a decrease, not an increase, in the amount of evaporation, and hence of precipitation. The explanation of the paradox lies in the different distribution of the precipitation.