The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-06-14
MYENCE.
Australian Droughts and the Moon,

Australian Droughts and the Moon.
MIR. II. E. RUSSELL director OF tho Observa-
| tory at Sydney. New South Wales. hns pub
lished memoir on the relation OF the moons
motion In declInntion to the quantity OF
rain In that colony in which tho author con-
cludes that the rain is clearly shown to come
IN abundance when the moon Ia In certain
degrees Of her motion south, but that when
the moon begins to 90 north drouGhty COLI
dltions prevail for seven or even eight years.
This phenomenon. which he has found TO be
repeated for three periods OF nineteen years
each, leads him to conclude that there must
be law connecting the two phenomena.
The influence Of the moon on the weather
Is matter that will not be downed by the
az ercise OF any amount Of common sense.
According TO the most ancient notions the
moon ought to have and must have con-
trolling influence In excess Of the suns, be-
cause II Is nearer to US. The moon has so
many variations north and south OF the
equator. north and south OF the ecliptic. TO
and from the earth. from new moon to full
moon. conspring with the sun and opposing
the sun. that II seems as though II ought 10
DO possible to make its periodical oscillations
agree with some of the many variations In
tho aspect Of the weather. However. we
know Of but one relation between the moon
and the earths atmosphere that can be said
and that is the matter OF atmospheric tides
Laplace stated that the semidiurnal lunar
tide In the atmosphere ought to amount to
about COS inch OF barometrc pressure
for equatorial stations, and this agrees with
the results OF observations. His formula
also showed although we believe he did not
state the fact. that. as the moon moves north
and south Of the equator monthly. there
ought to be fortniRhtly tide. or q general
pull Of the atmosphere southwark for two
weeks and norehward for two weeks. This.
We believe. was first demonstrated as an
observable quantity by 4. Poincsrt. When
the moon is furthest north there Is a slight
accumulation Of atmosphere In the northern
hemisphere. amounting to an increase OF
the parallel Of 10 degrees. " ~
rather ST ,apd ss ssrG ba
an opposite effect in the other halt Of that
month; or what happens at the time when
opposite effect few months or years later
when the sun and moon oppose each other
When he far s9ut and bssns 70
Conditions prevail and continue for seven
Or eight years; But the strange part s that
e e sontSern posto1 eVsry month Wheu
exception. not only just before the seven or
eight years, drought. but during the whole
rainy per od. How then can her beginning to
for droushts IN one and rains rains
in another?
GOOD SEEING WITH TELESCOPES.
Mr. Percval Lowell. director of the Flag
STAFF Observatory. speaking OF what con-
stitutes satisfactory or unsatisfactory vision
Of the celestial bodies, says. in substance
Studies directed to that end have resulted
in a knowledge OF the conditions which con-
stitute good or bad SEEING. The
basis OF the matter lies in the we'll known
fact that systems Of waves traverse the air.
several OF these systems being present at
once at various levels above the earths sur
face. The waves composing any ri ven
system are constant in size and differ for the
different currents all the way from a fraction
Of an inch to several feet in length. Ii the
distributing wave be less from crest to crest
than the diameter OF the object glass, the
image. is confused by unequal refraction from
the different phases Of the wave: II the wave
be longer than this, bodily oscillation of
the whole image results. The first is fatal
10 good definition. the second makes accu-
II is easy 70 make these waves Visible by
taking out the eyepece and putting ones
eye in the focus of the instrument when the
notinS. the character Of the spurious disc
ex tent OF the swing Of the image in the field Of
view BY combining the amount OF confI-
ns st The a Soy az snv Of time
and place can be accurately and absolutely
The perfection Of the optical ina &c Of star
testifles to the lack OF damae cling currents
with reference 70 the object glass used. II
length. Similarly. the amount Of bodily
motion registers all those above that length
PHYSIOLOGICAL ECONOMY IN NUTRITION.
Prof. Chittenden Of Yale University dis
cusses the conditions OF physiological econ
omy In nutrition in the June number Of the
Popular Science Monthly with especial refer
ence to experiments conducted In his own
laboratory by Mr.. Henry Fletcher. 1t ap-
pears that Mr. Fletcher has practised econ
omy Of the SORT for FIVE wears past and has
accustomed himself to diet simple In nature
and very small in quantity. but entirely salts
factory and adequate. 1t il composed OF
a prepared cereal food, of milk and OF ma pie
sugar and Is palatabe and sufficient as IL
contains all the essentials The details of one
Of his experiments, extending over six days,
are given below. taking averages. Average
daily intake for six days: Proteids. IS grams:
fats. 20 era ms: carbohydrates 253 grams: Gallo
RIGS. /. 800 grams nitrogen !. 10 grams. The cor
responding average daily output was; lrine.
s.3 grams: frees. an grant total. 500 grams.
The main points to be noted are the very
small naks Of Protefds ,b and .i the ,n as that
about, i.soo calcritls. Volts values for a
man doing moderate work nre: Proteids lis
grams; fat. SO grams; carbohydrates tsugnr and
starch, $40 grams: tot; fuel. fun value 3015
calories daily. These are very much larger
than Mr.. Fletcher's amounts. yet It is to be
noted that Fletcher WAS in perfect health
throughout. his weight dos pounds renu ned
unchanged. his capacity for mental and for
physical work Yves excellent even much
above what might be expected from person
fed in the ordinary fashion. Moreover, the /
result is now normal with him. as his practice
extends over years. Note also that the daily
cost Of his food YVES but II cents-and re-
member that il was fully satisfying In quality
and quantity.
In view OF these results We may reasona bly,
ask whether our present practice as to food
does pot need careful eXamp, ton whether
the whole OF the Western World is not living
oil wrong and wastefnl basis. Continued
experiment on many ndivid are needed
TO acttle the question. The presumption
seems to be that a radical change In our
standards Of living cnn he made with i'm
mense advantage to this and to every future
generation.
NEW VALUE FoR THE SOLAR PARALLAx.
1t view Of the rrobable publication in the
near future Of the results obtained from
the observations OF Eros. Herr r. Weinberg,
Of the University OF Odessa. has collected