between broad borders of dry, pebbly river-bottom, and reduced many a rushing stream to a series of stagnant pools. The air has danced and shimmered in the fierce heat over the browned plantations of Louisiana and pastures of Muskoka, and thousands of wearied cattle have perished of thirst; and, worse than all, the clouds of smoke that have hung month after month over the flaming forests of a dozen States and provinces have but been the harbingers of a fiery destruction which has brought desolation and death to many a once-happy family. WET WEATHER IN MINNESOTA. Strange to say, while the eastern part of the continent has been parched by drought, Minnesota has been suffering from excessively wet weather, and California from unusual cold. No doubt full information would show similar eccentricities of the weather in other countries. Bad as has been the record, it might have been worse. April was cold, and June unusually so; otherwise, not only the root-crops and Indian corn would have suffered, but the wheat-crop would have been a failure. The coolness of these months, combined with the moderation of the drought in May and June, had a beneficial effect on the latter crop, and made the year a tolerably prosperous one to the agriculturist. 1876 AND 1868. Dryer months have been known before. August, 1876, was warmer than the past August, and no rain whatever fell, but the drought was by no means so extended as this season nor of so great duration. The summer of 1868 was hotter--except in September-and July in Hamilton averaged 80° in the shade, with a maximum of 106.3°, or higher than it has been known in either New Orleans or Calcutta ; but the rainfall of June, July, and August was quite equal to that of the same months this year, and the drought was preceded by a May in which at Toronto 7.67 inches of rain fell, and followed by a September with 4.24 inches. year September has only been exceeded in dryness by April and August. Neither the summer, which commenced about May 3d, nor the drought, has yet ended in Ontario, though in Ohio, Kentucky, and the Western States heavy rains have fallen. PREVIOUS DROUGHTS. This Of previous years in this century, 1854 was most remarkable for widelyextended and prolonged drought, but the rainfall was greater than in this The year 1819 was excessively dry over a limited area; and in fact every few years there have been parts of the continent more or less summer. affected by a damaging lack of rain. An extended drought, such as has been experienced this summer, may not be known again on this continent for a century, but, bad as it has been, few would exchange it for the wet seasons, and consequent bad harvests, Great Britain experiences every few years. SUMMER RECORD (1881) IN EUROPE. HEAT AND DRY WEATHER IN EUROPE. IN Europe nearly every country has been affected, and the intense heat which has prevailed here was also felt there. In Switzerland the peasants had to look to their vintage, which promised an unusual yield, to repair the losses to grain through the long drought. In Italy great heat combined with the usual dryness of summer to wither the vegetation and increase the mortality. At Naples, in the end of August, the mercury reached 98° in the shade, a higher temperature than had been known in twenty-one years. At Rome 101° were reached. France and parts of Russia, Hungary, Austria, and Germany also report drought and heat, though not of a very serious nature. EXTRAORDINARY WEATHER IN BRITAIN. In Britain, strange to say, the drought of the earlier part of the season was such that with the usual heat of a Canadian summer the harvest would have been a total failure. As little as 0.96 of an inch of rain, or less than a quarter of an inch per month, is reported for the four months April to July, inclusive. Although in July in a spell of a few days the mercury went up to 93° at Greenwich, the summer, as usual, was not very warm, and consequently the small rainfall was sufficient to produce an unusual promise for harvest. The farmers were jubilant, but down came the August rains, and when Canada and the United States were anxiously, waiting for the rain which a brazen sky refused to drop, and were sweltering among the nineties and hundreds, Britain was ALMOST INUNDATED. Midday temperatures for weeks were below 60°, and in the great wheatcounties the thermometer often fell below 40°, and on one occasion to within half a degree of the freezing-point. The August rainfall at London was 5.50 inches, and ample atonement was made for the drought. Such conditions as the foregoing, according to Mr. Vennor, indicate a rather severe winter for England, Ireland, and Scotland.-Pubs. PERIHELION NOT CONJUNCTION. AT least the elements of astronomy should be taught in our schools. There probably never was a time in the world's history when the stars were less considered, and there certainly never was one when more nonsense was talked about them. Several city publications used the word "perihelion" for the late conjunction of planets. "Perihelion" is a very good word, but a perihelion is not a conjunction. A perihelion means the point at which a planet or comet is nearest the sun; a conjunction means that two or more heavenly bodies are in the same direction from the earth, and are consequently grouped together in the sky. During the past summer a very absurd statement was telegraphed from the other side of the world, and appeared in the papers all over this continent, to the effect that a French astronomer had announced that the comet would reach its apogee that night, and would thenceforth grow smaller. The savant must have said its perigee-that is, the point at which it is nearest to the earth-and not its apogee, the point at which it is farthest from the earth, by no means THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A CYCLONE AND A TORNADO. 71 a favorable one for the observation of comets, which are visible only at the very near points of their orbits. A mere smattering of astronomy or a few lessons in Greek would have placed correspondents and journalists generally beyond committing such a mistake. THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A CYCLONE AND A TORNADO. THE difference between a cyclone and a tornado is defined by Mr. William Ferris, of the United States Coast Survey, to be this: A cyclone is usually a broad, flat, gyrating disc of atmosphere, very much greater in width than in altitude; a tornado is a column of gyrating air, the altitude of which is several times greater than its diameter. Cyclones are born of conditions extending over large areas; tornadoes depend rather upon the vertical relations of the atmosphere, and occur when, owing to local changes of temperature, the under strata of air burst up through the overlying strata. The enormous velocities of the ascending currents of tornadoes are supposed to be caused by the difference between the gyrating velocities above and those on the surface. It is these ascending currents which carry up the vast bodies of water afterward precipitated in the form of a deluge of rain. The water is sometimes kept from falling by the ascending currents, and is often projected outside the area of the tornado, when it falls in a gentle shower over a larger area. When the weight of the water overbears the force of the ascending currents, there occurs the tremendous fall of rain known as a cloud-burst. When the area of a tornado is very small, a land-spout or a water-spout may be formed, according as it is over land or water. The width of these spouts ranges between two feet and two hundred, and their height from thirty to fifteen hundred feet. A white squall is an invisible spout, formed when the dew-point is low. The accompanying cloud is invisible because of its height, but below there is a raging and boiling sea, with the gyrating current of air above it. Land-spouts and water-spouts are hollow. VENNOR'S " cold wave appears to have arrived on time in some sections, though this section was "left out in the heat." The New York Star of the 18th inst. (Aug., 1881) says: "The Star begs to assure Mr. Vennor of its distinguished consideration. The cold wave arrived on schedule-time, according to his prediction. The cold wave did not visit this neighborhood alone. Throughout the whole country from Maine to Texas there has been a general fall in the temperature. In this city the thermometer marked 58° at 6 A. M. At noon it had only risen 7°, and at 3.30 P. M. it touched its highest point, 66°." THE INFLUENCE OF THE MOON UPON WEATHER. THAT the moon does exert an influence over weather-changes is most firmly believed in by "the people" of the present day, has always been believed in by those of past generations, and, expound as meteorologists and astronomers may to their utmost notwithstanding, will be believed in up to the end of time by the majority of the world's inhabitants. And why so? Mainly through the power and hold on the people of “old saws" relating to the weather in times past. These undoubtedly originated in the constant recurrence of certain conditions of the weather in proximity to certain changes of the moon, these last the more noticeable from the fact of their being ever held before the people through the almanacs of the day. And I must confess that, to my way of reasoning, there is a fair value to be attached to these old and perpetuated "saws or sayings. For had any one or more in particular of these failed in times past to any considerable extent-as undoubtedly many hundreds have done these would ere now have disappeared from the list to-day quoted from. The originators of such sayings knew nothing whatever of the relationship of the moon to the weather beyond what appeared to them to exist in some one or other of its particular phases; consequently, their statements alone have but little weight. The continuance of these, however, through a century and more is, on the other hand, a telling point in their favor. Meteorologists, as is often quoted, have "long ago pointed out there is no foundation for this fanciful lunar rule;" but we have often noticed that meteorologists are and have been mistaken in their statements on kindred points. In the field of science it does not always answer to be too positive respecting pet theories. In geology and zoology the work and lifetime results of one zealous worker are oftentimes overthrown and scattered to the winds by a succeeding and still more accurate observer; and so in meteorology and astronomy. Professor Proctor, the learned and profound astronomer-but of doubtful repute as a weather-prognosticator-in an article recently appearing in the press ridicules the efforts of "Tice and Vennor," using language that would appear to imply an existing bitterness in the writer's mind as touching the notoriety attained by these individuals, although he is entirely ignorant respecting the systems upon which their labors are based. The world is large, Professor Proctor, and wide enough for many more laborers in the field which you have chosen. Advancement is now the cry of the age, and as you and |