Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 75.djvu/428

424 The sixth station is situated in California, 112 miles north of San Francisco, one mile south of the city of Ukiah, the county seat of Mendocino County. The observatory is located toward the western edge of one of the numerous small valleys in the Coast Range of mountains. The valley, which is traversed by the Russian River, is about ten miles long and from, two to three miles wide, and surrounded by mountains of an average height of about 1,300 feet above the floor of the valley. The altitude of the observatory is 700 feet above sea-level. The meteorological conditions at this station are very favorable, standing next to those of Carloforte in this respect. Snow seldom falls and, although

the summer temperatures are sometimes extreme, the nights are always cool, which adds much to the comfort of the observer if not to the accuracy of the observations. Up to May, 1903, the observations at this station were made by Dr. Frank Schlesinger, now director of the Allegheny Observatory; from that time until September, 1907, the observations were made by the writer of this article. The work is now in charge of Dr. James D. Maddrill.

From a seismological point of view, all the American stations are favorably located. Although the Pacific Coast of the Americas is well recognized as a region of seismic activity, yet the mountainous nature of the country surrounding Ukiah seems to afford a measure of protection from these disturbances. No earthquake since the observatory was established, not even the great shock of April 18, 1906, has been of sufficient intensity to interfere in any way with the progress of observations.