PHYSIOLOGICAL METEOROLOGY Dr. Ellsworth Huntington, Assoc. Editor, Yale University, New Haven, Ct. The Physiological Effect of Wind In an abstract in the October, 1920, issue of the BULLETIN, I maintained that there are certain ideal weather conditions, mainly temperature, wind and humidity, which are most conducive to health and efficiency, and that exposure to wide departures and sudden changes are cumulatively injurious and likely to lead in time to illness or death. The ideal conditions were stated roughly as follows: For persons seated indoors, temperature between 65° and 70° F., relative humidity 50 to 75 per cent, air movement slight but positive. For persons moving about, temperature 10 degrees or more lower and air movement more rapid. Although the main essential is proper temperature, humidity and wind must not be neglected. I desire to write very briefly with special regard to the thermal effect of wind. No attempt will be made, however, to discuss the important influence which wind has at times on the nervous system. Many writers apparently think wind is beneficial irrespective of the accompanying temperature. The fact is, wind has decided value only when the temperature is not far below that of the body. Then it is needed to increase the loss of heat, which otherwise would proceed too slowly. A slight air movement is probably needed at lower temperatures, but it need not be pronounced. In cold weather the heated air leaving the body or escaping from warm rooms is forced to rise by the neighboring cooler, denser air thereby creating a circulation of air. At such times strong winds cause the loss of heat from the body to be too rapid and the constitution is overtaxed. Pronounced wind is injurious also at very high temperatures. Some of the beneficial effects thought by many to come from out-of-door schools and other forms of exposure are probably due to other causes, such as more freedom of movement, in which case lower temperature and more wind are desirable. Exposure to wind and cold may well be a lesser evil than confinement in overheated rooms. Where conditions are maintained near the figures indicated at the beginning of this paper the maximum, not only of comfort, but also of health and efficiency will probably be attained. -Cyrus H. Eshleman. One point must strike many men who do not habitually overload their bodies with woolen clothing, namely, the apparent rarity of any exercise of individual judgment by most men in regard to the kind of clothes they shall put on in the morning. It is indirect testimony to the habitual scrabble in which most of us live! and each day's morning scrabble is the acutest of all the daily round.-New York Sun, Nov. 21, 1921. “‘SUMMERTIME ALL THE TIME' IN THE STATE OF FLORIDA" 1 The above slogan-adopted by hotel men the length and breadth of the Florida peninsula is without a doubt largely responsible for the prestige which this popular winter resort is just now enjoying. A look through 1 Caption to a full page of advertisements in the Saturday Graphic of the "New York Evening Post," Jan. 7, 1922. current newspapers and magazines reveals many advertisements which sing the praises of this land of eternal summer. In the northwestern section, Jacksonville, "the Gateway to the State of Florida," for example, boasts of "every charm in climate and outdoor sports"-an ideal place among verdant tropical scenery for one to spend the winter. Farther down the east coast are St. Augustine which has "an invigorating climate where the extremes of heat and cold are unknown," and Miami "where climatic conditions are superior to any in the world," the average temperature being 75.4 degrees. De Land, so the hotel circular tells us, has "a healthful and equable climate," while Lakeland, "far from winter cold and storms" is the place "where you may enjoy your favorite sport or just live all day in the open air." St. Petersburg, on the west coast, claims "an ideal semi-tropical climate" and points rather proudly to the fact that it had "360 days of sunshine in 1920.” This famous resort is now known popularly as "The Sunshine City." Daytona, West Palm Beach, and Orlando all have their charms for the lovers of outdoor life in an "equable climate" and large numbers of tourists lured on by the wonderful descriptions of the hotel and railroad literature visit these places each winter with the hope of escaping the chilly blasts of the frozen north. Thus does Florida issue her call to the tourists-a call which you read in the newspapers and magazines each day. You become interested and send for railroad and hotel literature. You read that and then you become convinced that "to preserve your health, to prolong your life, to save coal bills," you should "winter in Florida."-G. H. Burnham. Mr. John R. Weeks of the Binghamton office of the Weather Bureau suggests that since warnings of fire weather are made, warnings of epidemic weather and of crop disease weather ought to be considered. He states that Dr. Longstreet has studied the record of measles from December, 1910, till January, 1911, and finds that the disease seems to fluctuate in accordance with the weather. It seems probable that relationships of some sort really exist and are of great importance. One of the most important subjects of investigation now open to the meteorologist, especially to the man trained in modern methods of exact statistical correlation, is the problem of what may be called "disease weather." PERSONAL NOTES Mr. Y. Isuiji and Mr. T. Hayashi, of the Central Meteorological Observatory, Tokyo, Japan, made a study of applied meteorology in the United States during December last. he former is making detailed studies of the relation of weather to crops, while the latter is interested primarily in forestry. These gentlemen were students under Dr. Okada and Dr. Fujiwara, the distinguished Japanese meteorologists.-A. H. P. At the annual meeting of the Royal Meteorological Society on January 18, the Symons gold medal, which is awarded biennially for distinguished work in connection with meteorology, was presented to Colonel H. G. Lyons. Science. Lt. T. D. Gwinn (j. g.) U. S. N., who recently was doing pilot duty with the Ship Plane Squadrons on the Pacific Coast, has been put on the staff of the Commander, Pacific Fleet Air Squadron, as aerological officer. The Seventh Meeting of the American Meteorological Society is to be at Washington, D. C., April 26-27, 1922. Those wishing to present papers should communicate with the Secretary. Treasurer. OF THE AMERICAN METEOROLOGICAL SOCIETY Published Monthly by the American Meteorological Society Address all Communications to "Secretary-Treasurer, Am. Meteorological Vol. 3 MARCH, 1922 No. 3 ABSTRACTS OF PAPERS AND DISCUSSIONS AT THE TORONTO MEETING Modal atmospheric streaming in wet and dry seasons in the Canadian wheat region. A. J. Connor. The modal or prevailing wind directions in several characteristically wet or dry years are expressed numerically after Sandstrom's and Bjerknes' method and differentiated by isogons. From these the air streams which prevail in such seasons are constructed, and the occurrence of precipitation discussed in reference to the origin and lines of convergence of these prevailing streams.—A. J. C. The three major streams of air are from the Hudson Bay region, the North Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico. That from the NE., on account of the coldness of its source, is dry; that from the W., because of the coolness of its source and the high mountains between the Pacific and the Great Plains of Canada, is rather dry; but that from the Gulf of Mexico is moist. One, two or three of these streams are likely to control the summer weather of the Canadian wheat region. Without the NE. stream there is not sufficient energy to lift the Pacific stream and cause rainfall, except where the Pacific stream and that from the Gulf of Mexico meet. The wettest periods occur when the cold, northerly stream meets, and runs under, the warm, moist southerly one. Discussion. C. F. Brooks commented on the novelty and vividness of Mr. Connor's method of presenting the dynamics of seasonal rainfall, and hoped that for other seasons and regions the maps of precipitation of the particular months might be supplemented by charts of prevailing wind streams, to show the dynamics which produced the distribution. He called attention to the marked difference in moisture content of the three currents described by Mr. Connor. If these streams came off their respective bodies of water saturated with water vapor, the Hudson Bay one would contain about 5 gm. of water vapor per cubic meter, the Pacific stream, about 13 gm., and that from the Gulf of Mexico about 27 gm. Even though much of the moisture in the Pacific stream is precipitated in passing over the Cascades and Rocky Mountains, and even though the stream from the Gulf is dried by many convectional showers while on the way to Canada, the Pacific stream should yield more rainfall than the Hudson Bay one, and the Gulf one the most. Dr. Brooks directed attention to the occurrence of irregular variations in the temperatures of the surface waters of the Gulf of Mexico, and pointed out that a reduction of 3 or 4° F. in these tempera tures would cause a decrease of about 20 per cent the vapor content of the wind blowing off the water. That such a difference must have a great effect on the amount of rainfall in the interior of North America cannot be denied. Some phases of the climate of Manitoba in relation to agriculture. S. C. Lee. Manitoba is a very large province comparable to Texas in size. The rainfall in general decreases from NE. to SW. The extreme SW. is less productive than the central south, because of greater evaporation, perhaps. The summer rainfall is abundant, which makes the annual total of 20 or more inches go farther than might be expected. At Winnipeg the wettest month is June, and fully half of the annual fall occurs during the growing season. Not more than 3 years in 50 show deficient rainfall, and not more than 3 show excess. There is no visible cycle in rainfall. Locally autumn is the wettest season. The total snowfall is appreciable, ranging from over 50 inches about the lakes and on the highlands in the SW. to less than 30 inches in the extreme SW. In the NE. 20 inches of snow is the average fall in November and December, while the lakes are still relatively warm. Frost, rather than rainfall, is the critical factor in agriculture in Manitoba. Only in a small area in the south center, is the average date of last killing frost in spring before June 1, and the first in fall after Sept. 11. Oats are characteristic of the more frosty portions of the agricultural area, and wheat of the less frosty. A short season, however, does not always mean a poor crop: in 1915 with a short frost-free period there was a bumper crop, while in 1914 with a long period there was a poor crop. The average length of the frostless season at Winnipeg is 116 days, but at the coldest place only 34-35 days. In some seasons (e. g. once at Souris) the frostless period may be only 10 days. At Russell (W. central) the shortest period has been 35 days and the longest 123 days. The yield of wheat is best in the west central part, that of oats in west central and in south and central. The weather is characterized by casual rains from the west, and by heavy showers after 2 or 3 days of south winds (cf. Connor, above). In winter after a south wind the weather is uncomfortably raw during the cooling-off period when there is a high wind and a temperature falling to -25° F. Discussion. At the close H. J. Cox asked if the heavier precipitation in the central southwest were owing to greater altitude. Prof. Lee said that although it was somewhat elevated it did not seem to be sufficiently so to produce the marked increase. Prof. Ward asked if there were more than one station there, to indicate that the rainfall is truly greater than on either side. Prof. Lee said "Yes." The five zones of atmospheric circulation. Diagrams were drawn showing the winds as they might be without friction and with friction. Without friction, there would be low-latitude easterlies and middle and high latitude easterlies, without equatorward or poleward components. With friction, the westerlies extend from about lat. 30° poleward to about lat. 60°. On either side are easterlies. Cyclones occur in the sub-polar low pressure belt. The low in the sub-Antartic is largely mechanical in nature. A discussion of the details of winds moving with friction was presented only to the extent of calling attention to recent investigations of G. I. Taylor and L. F. Richardson which make us revise our older idea that gradient velocity occurs only with gradient direction: with the reduction of friction the gradient velocity is reached before the wind turns as far as the gradient direction, and with the gradient direction, supergradient velocities occur. Discussion. C. F. Brooks suggested that if the circulation were frictionless the overflow from over the equatorial regions could not go so far poleward as is now the case, and that therefore the subtropical high pressure belts would be nearer the equator. Dr. Humphreys replied that the distance would have to be computed. Dr. Brooks asked if the sub-polar low pressure belt were not largely thermal, owing to the flow of air thence to the polar cold anticyclones. Dr. Humphreys said he thought the thermal element in both the sub-polar lows and the equatorial low was very small, and that even the equatorial low is estimated to be 9-10 dynamically produced. Temperatures outside vs. those inside a thermometer shelter. C. F. Brooks. A summary was given of the findings of other observers with respect to the heating in sunlight and the cooling under strong nocturnal radiation which at times raises temperatures inside shelters higher by day and lower by night than the temperatures of the air. Then attention was directed to the further effect of wetness of a thermometer shelter on the temperature of the air inside. When there is but little wind, the dry-bulb temperature inside a wet shelter corresponds closely to that of the wet-bulb of a sling psychrometer whirled outside. And even when there is a moderate breeze the temperature in a wet shelter is usually below that of the air outside. Discussion. W. J. Humphreys made a plea for more accuracy (by international agreement) as to exposures. There is no use in reading to tenths. Sir Frederic Stupart inquired if experiments had been made in the United States with different kinds of shelters. In reply, H. J. Cox stated that this had been done at Fort Myer. He said that an exposed minimum thermometer gave a lower temperature than one in the shelter. Dr. Humphreys remarked that the differences between temperatures in shaded and unshaded shelters were appreciable. Dr. Brooks said that at Topeka a maximum difference of 7° F. had been observed. Commenting on Prof. Cox's remarks he cited recent observations where, on account of active radiation, the sling thermometer read 1 to 1.5° F. lower while at rest in the open than when whirled. Thus the difference between an exposed minimum thermometer and one inside a shelter is not to be ascribed wholly to the difference in the air temperature inside vs. that outside the shelter. (Later, at 4.30 P. M., Dec. 29, while members of the Society were inspecting the equipment of the Meteorological Office, the minimum thermometer exposed in the open was seen to be at 10° F. while that in the shelter was 12°. Both were falling. There was a brisk NW. wind, and the sky was remarkably clear, therefore cooling of the exposed thermometer by radiation must have been responsible for the depression of about 2 degrees.) Anemometry. J. Patterson. Experiments have been made in a wind-tunnel with cup anemometers of many kinds: varying length of arms, varying sizes of cups, varying numbers |