The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-05-27
Some Successful Attempts That
Have Recently Been Recorded.
Cosmos (Paris)

cosmos (ParlS).
Involuntary influences exists without
doubt; it is exercised, for instance, by
deforestation and by the resulting al
teration of conditions of soil, which
mobiles the flowing of streams and in
creases foundations; and also by the de-
velopment of industrial activity, as Rus
sci has shown in the case of London
fogs, which augment considerably with
increased consumption of COAL The
considerable increase of the number of
thunderstorms, which has doubled since
1870 leads us to believe that in this
case also there is an effect due, in part,
at least, to industrial activity; for it is
difficult to attribute an increase so con-
siderable to the sole action of sun spots.
An attempt has been made to explain
the increase in the number of storms by
the abundant production of steam by in
dustrial engines. DR. Trabert cannot
accept this explanation, for he calculates
that the quantity of steam thus produced
in the whole of Germany would scarce
ly represent an evaporation of 0.0025 mil
limeter OF water to the square klometer
Q-40O9 inch to the square mile. But it
is quite different with particles of dust
scattered in great abundance throughout
the air blythe incomplete combustion of
a quantity of coal equal to 200 kilograms
to the square kilometer G,140 pounds to
crease Of atmospheric dust should ex-
ercse an action on the production of
rain. When moist air masses the state
of saturation, condensation takes place
on particles of dust The more there
are of these, the more drops are formed !;
thus, for a given quantity of vapor con-
densed, the drops are necessarily small
er. Now the tension of saturation on a
convex surface increases with the curry
rafr Of aa |.
the smallness of the drops. An increase
Of the quantity Of dust in the air will
therefore tend to favor the supersatura-
ton of the air and consequently to pro-
duce thunderstorms and abundant rains.
1t is much more interesting however,
to know whether we may voluntarily
act upon the weather. To this kind of
action belong the attempts made sue
cessfully in France. on a large scale,
to prevent nocturnal frosts by the pro-
duction of artificial clouds. But when
we come to the artificial production of
rain success is much more doubtful, as
all attempts, SO far, have proved. In
the production of any phenomenon 1t is
always a question. of any equivalent
transformation of one kind of energy
into another and we must inquire
whether the necessary amount of energy
is at our disposal New Trabert cal
culates that to bring to saturation a
cubic kilometer (ene@duarter cubic mile)
Of air at 40 per cent relative humidity
requires no less than 1,400 kilogrammet-
ers of work 10000 foot pounds). This
scarcely allows us to- think of the posi-
bility of artificial condensation. Such a
thing would appear sto he possible only
if the conditions necessary to condensa-
ton already existed, and If we had only
! to put latent forces into action Final
! ly, to this voluntary action on the
weather belongs the method, used in the
Austrian Alps since the time of En-
/ peror Joseph H., of making numerous
/ explosions to ward off hailstorm, a
process that, as is well known, has been
developed and systematized by NJ Ste
ger at Wandisch Feistritz, in Southern
/ Syria, with great success.