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��hind this llie Japanese derivation of the irord, which, though possible, of course, in the way the characters express it, may be possible also in another way, and that other may really be the tme one. Following this course, Jlr. Chamberlain suggests that lorii is not derived trom lori ('a bird') and i (' to be or rest '), but from tori (' to pass through ') and i (' to be '). which would make it ' a place of passing through.'

To account for such an improbable name aa 'bird's rest,' it is cus- tomary to instance the well-known respect of the Buddhist religion for animals. The gate- way is there, so it is

said, to afford a roost- ~"#T^'

Log-place Tor the sa- "" ' ~

ored pigeons which fi'e- qaent many of the Japanese temples. But as we see, again and emphatically, from Korea, there is no ori- ginal connection be- tween Buddhism and the torii; for the red

arrow gate has, in the peninsula, nothing whatever to do with Buddhist temples, and its name there is simply explanatory of its stmcture. This does not prevent birds roost- ing on it, as one happened to do at the mo- ment the accompanying photograph was taken. for it must be for them an exceedingly conven- ient place to roost. But its popularity in Korea at least suggests, that, as regards the custom of the Japanese pigeons, the name probably followed the fact, rather tliau the fact a dedication. Peucival Lowell.

��of which are at elevations greatly above 1 of Blue Hill. At the level of Pike's Peak, the cyclonic rotation of the winds is Unrdlj observable, the observatory there being above the strata of the atmosphere whose circulation is seriously disturbed by passing storms. On Mount Washington the winds whirl around almost in a circle about the progressing storm-

���Tbb meteorological observatory lately con- structed by Mr. A. Lawrence Ilotch on the summit of Blue Hill, near Boston, at an eleva- tion of six hundred and thirty-five feet, is now in working order; and two monthly bulletins have been issued from it. containing summa- ries of winds and weather for February and March of the current jear. The only other observatories in this country, elevated dis- tinctly above the surrounding region, are those maintained by the U.S. signal - ser^'icc on Moimt Washington and at Pike's Peak, lioth

���centre. At Blue lliU we may hope to disoorer^ the true circulation of the lower air, nnaffected by the natural or artificial irregularities of sur- face that modify the reconis of so many of onr signal- service stations. The value of observa- tions taken at moderate elevations is attested by the increasing number of mountain obser* vatories in Europe. Ben Nevis is the latest on the list, and its records have already afforded material for several articles in Nature and other foreign journals. Gei'many has a sta- tion on the Brocken; France, on the Puy de Dome and the Pic du Midi; while Switzerland possesses several more. As Blue Hill has the first private observatory of the kind in this country, we shall look with especial interest for the results of studies based upon its rec- ords. The accompanying figure is from a pho- tograph taken by the observer, Mr. W. P. Gerriah. The large ' cold-wave ' flag, when displayed from the pole on the tower, accord- ing to the signal- service predictions, can be seen by a number of villages around the base of the hill. An account of the building was read at a recent meeting of the New-England meteorological society, and published in the December number of the American meteorolo- gical journal.

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