The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-12-11
Today, Mayors Remnant Sale.
: FOG LORE AND PROBLEMS.
London is Going to Pay for New
 Expert Investigation.

New 1Ork ITlDunS.
 Although the metropolis of the world has suffered from fogs from time imme- morial, her wise men recognize that there is much vet to be learned concerning them. And while the inconvenience expe- rleEced from this cause during the last few weeks may have not been much greater than usual, 1t has led to pro- vision for fresh investigation of the subject under conbined local and na- tional auspices. The county council sup Lilies the money and the meteorological cc uncil selects the experts required for the undertaking.
 The chief aim of the inquiry is a highly pi actical one and was suggested by the local electric and gasHght companies. The hopelessness of prefenting fogs is so generally conceded that no sane English man considers that possibility for a mo . ment. But if the occurrence of this nuis- auce could be foreseen, even by two or three hours, it would enable the cor porations which supply London with ar tificial illumination better to meet the extra demands put upon them. Hence the meteorological experts who are now about to wrestle with the subject Will be asked to say, first Of all, whether it is practicable to forecast fogs or not
 But incidentally, of course, and per haps asa necessary prelude to answ er- ing that question, they will doubtless give much attention to the conditions under which the phenomenon occurs
 These are already known to be some
 
 cause is technically the same Fog, ike cloud and frost, is a condensation Of previously invisible moisture suspended In the air. The warmer the atmospnere the more vapor it will hold. Hence a lowering of the temperature without any alteration of it's absolute humidity Will bring tho air closer and closer 10 the state of saturation, and any chiling De- yond that limit which Is called the dew point" will compel the air to give up q portion of its watery contents as cloud or fog, or else rain, hail or snow Ana the ways in which this cooling is brought about are numerous. ,..,
 When the layer of atmosphere lying ahoye the warm gulf stream in the At Iantic drifts northward and encounters the cold Arctic current at the NeW1ound- land banks, it experiences reduction of temperature below the dew point anu fog results The same thing comes when warm sea air envelops an iceberg or nows gently inland over region covered with snow or much colder than the ocean. This latter situation arises frequently Ill winter. ,.. without even the slightest atmospheric movement in a horizontal direction. frosl forms for instance, in calm when the rapid radiation of the earths neat re- duces the temperature of the air close 10 the ground several degrees below that at an elevation of only a few feet. valley fogs are produced under substantially the same conditions. And while fog hank usually lies at a low level and often rests mon the earth or sea it sometimes exists at an anpreciable elevation. The latter fact would suggest possibilities of chilling from above rather than from below the particular stratum of the atmosphere In which it occurs.
 A writer in Nature deems it desirable to ascertain the source from which the water comes which Is found in the form of fog, but 1t would seem to be equally If