The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-12-11
M E N, w o M E N
 A ND T H IN G 5

Now fogs are not to be ignored. for they have way of getting attention The study of properties and behavior of fog is especially important for large towns in consequence of the economic and hygienic results which follow the in- cidence of fogs.
 I had not paid very much attention to fogs in childhood, and was only brought face to face with the inconvenience re- sulting from them when, as a youth, made my first pilgrimage to London The fogs in London have long been a subject of special inquiry upon the part of both the scientific and governing men Of the great city
 The various meteorological aspects of fog and it's incidence in London were the subject of reports to the Meteorological Council by Capt. A. Carpenter and MT R. G. K. Lempfert- based upon special obsedvatlons made in the winters ofa 1901 -19o2-190S in order to examine thes possibility of more precise forecasts of fog; but it is difficult to get trust worthy statistics on the subject in con- sequence of the vagueness of the prac- tice as regards the classification of fog.
 Regarding, however, fog as word to indicate the state of the atmosphere as regards transparency considered with it's reference to it's effect upon traffic, a scale of fog intensity has been intro duced for land and sea, whereby the in- tensity of the obscurity is indicated by the numbers 1 to in table which 1t IS unnecessary to give here, but to which make reference simply to show that the problem has been attacked. Sir Oliver Lodge, in England, devised method of fog dispersion by means of electricity. It proved experimentally sue cessful but do not think has ever been tried out on a. large scale.
 
 I have read up on the subject suffi- ciently to know that the physical pro- cesses which produce fogs of water par ticles are difficult and hard to unravel. It's no easy matter to ascertain all that there is to be learned about the thick mist, or small hollow vescicles of water suspended in the air, but so low as to be but a short distance from the earth in place of rising high above it and becom-
 ing so illuminated by the sun as to con stitute clouds of varied hue.
 Huxley said in his physiography: Be yond the difference in the place of origin there is really no distinction to
 r tvUa. fnp nd a.
 fog is a cloud resting on the earth; a cloud is a fog floating high in the air. So when we wish to describe an inprac- licable fellow as one who walks with his head ill the clouds, it is well to re- member that it is not such an uncom- mon thing for, according to- the Hux-
 leyean dogma on fog, it is quite easy to at the same time have ones feet firmly planted on the earth
 The following is about the simplest definition l have found to give one clear idea of the formation of fog: Tt is produced by the condensation of aqueous vapor on the dust particles, also by the cooling of masses of air in other ways. and by the commingling of two currents of air of different temperature" Over the sea fog is most frequently due to the cooling of surface layer of warm air by the underlying cold water. The fog of the banks of Newfoundland be- ing so bad because of warm damp cur rent flowing over ice flows or icebergs. | The gulf stream is always on the Job as fog producer
 I have often remarked in this column that the 'myriad-mnded" Shakespeare never overlooked anything. and to give further proof . listen to this out of Mid 1 summers Night Dream:'
 Therefore, the winds. piping to us in vain,
 sea,
 Contagious fogs."
 The formation of fog over land appears to be an oven more complicated process than over the seas. I'll try and put the way it is done as simply as possible so that the ubiquitous man in the street" may understand 1t. The ordinary land or valley fog of the autumn evening or winter morning like those we are fa- miliar with here are due to the combina- tion of three causes; first. the cooling of the surface layer of air at or after sunset by the. radiation of the earth. or more particularly by the blades of grass; secondly, the slow downward flow Gin the absence of wind). of the air thus cooled towards lower levels following roughly the course of the natural water drainage ot the land; and thirdly. the supply of moisture by evaporation from | moist, warm soil or from the relatively warm water surface of river or lake It is in this way that steaming-pot fog gradually forms and is carried down. ward by the natural slow descent of the cooled air. It thus forms In wreaths and banks in the lowest parts, until perhaps 1 the whole valley becomes filled with a 1 cloud or mist of fog. At sea or in the country a fog, as a rule, is white and 1 consists of minute water globules of no great vertical thickness. which disperses l the sunlight by repeated reflection, but l is fully translucent. In large towns and cities the fog is darkened and intensi- fled by the smoke, and in some cases may be regarded as due entirely to
 smoke. The .'pea-soup" fogs of London
 life are produced by the carbon of the l .,-., o+ v,x,snhere cOlOriny the fog ves-