78 ANNUAL EECORD OF SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY. 



the earth, water, and the air; then the circulation of water 

 evaporation, moisture, and precipitation ; then the statics and 

 dynamics of air, as pressure and its currents; and in all these 

 points presents views adapted to the present condition of 

 the science of meteorology. We miss a chapter upon the 

 actinic power of the solar rays, or the wonderful and com- 

 plex constitution and influence of the molecular vibrations 

 that radiate from the sun, and which are the active cause of 

 all life on the earth. A second portion of the book handles 

 the questions of climate and climatography in such a manner 

 that one follows with great interest the exact presentation 

 and analysis that is offered. The introduction, which is writ- 

 ten by Dove, calls attention to the originality and lucidity 

 which distinguish the climatological portion of the book : 

 " The fundamental idea seems to be that meteoric phenomena 

 as well as the climatic relations are referred back to the cur- 

 rents of the atmosphere, and that, not only does the wind 

 make the weather, but that it is itself the w r eather" a prin- 

 ciple that was, we may state, early adopted in the predic- 

 tions of "Old Probabilities," as was stated in one of the first 

 publications of the Weather Bureau.* The relation of for- 

 ests to the climate are treated with great thoroughness, as 

 might be expected from the accessibility of the well-known 

 and important work of Ebermayer in this field of investiga- 

 tion. Although the work of Lorenz and Rothe is specially 

 adapted to Europe, it gives a short review of the climatic 

 characteristics of America, Asia, Australia, and Africa, and is 

 at present by far the best work available even for the Amer- 

 ican student ; and it is to be hoped that very soon it may 

 find its way into the hands of every one who in the least de- 

 gree devotes himself to these studies. Jelinek, Zeitschrift 

 JfeZ., IX,, 106-126. 



THE ACOUSTIC TEANSPAEENCY OF THE AIE. 



The important experiments made by Professor Tyndall 

 relative to the intensity of sound under various conditions of 

 the atmosphere have called forth from Professor Challis a 

 theory of the effects produced by fog and vapor, which is of 

 as great importance as the memoir presented to the Poyal 



* "Suggestions as to the Practical Use of the Weather Maps." 



