METEOROLOGY IN JAPAN 143 



Margules, Sprung, Bjerknes, Bigelow, Wild, Pernter, Ekholm and 

 many others. It appears, however, that not very much has been added 

 to dynamic or theoretical meteorology since the publication of the works 

 of Ferrel, Mohn and Oberbeck. The present status of the science being 

 such in the professed countries of science, Japan can not be criticized 

 if she has not done very much towards developing theoretical meteor- 

 ology. She may, however, be proud of Professor Diro Kitao, a pro- 

 found mathematician, and of his work, comparable with the elegant 

 analysis of Oberbeck and Helmholtz, in fact, reminding us remarkably 

 of the work of Kirchhoff. While Japan was still in the national tur- 

 moil of forty years ago, Diro Kitao was sent by the government to 

 Germany for study. He went through the gymnasium at Berlin and 

 studied mathematical physics at Berlin and Gottingen. After an ab- 

 sence of about sixteen years, he returned to his native land and in 

 1886 was appointed as professor of physics at the College of Agriculture 

 of the Tokyo Imperial University. Professor Kitao has published 

 many important memoirs, the most noteworthy of which is his ' Bei- 

 trage zur Theorie der Erdatmosphare und der Wirbelsturme.' This 

 work was published in three volumes, volume I. in 1887, volume II. in 

 1889 and volume III. in 1895, in the Journal of the College of Science 

 of the Tokyo Imperial University. This most elaborate memoir covers 

 some four hundred pages. On account of its great length and of its 

 highly mathematical nature, it is impossible to reproduce here all its 

 important results; but it may be worth while to give here the title of 

 each part. The first volume contains the introduction and the discus- 

 sions of hydrodynamic equations with consideration of the earth's rota- 

 tion; the general differential equations for the motion of the atmos- 

 phere; the general relations between isodynamic lines, wind-directions 

 and vortex-axes; space integration; the equations of atmospheric mo- 

 tions under special assumptions ; vorticular motions of the atmosphere ; 

 circular cyclones and anticyclones (§I.-VIL). The second volume, 

 including § VIII.-XL, treats of a vortex field of rectilinear isobars ; 

 the formation of complex vortices in the -atmosphere ; special motions 

 in a vortex-field; the change of wind-direction, strength and pressure 

 for a given external point in the case of a double vortex formation. 

 The third volume treats of the condition for a stationary vortex when 

 two vortices exist; vertical atmospheric circulation; variable vortex 

 formation in the atmosphere (§ XII.-XIV.). 



Several important meteorological memoirs have been published, 

 mostly by the members of the Central Meteorological Observatory. 

 Among these we note ' Sur la marche diurne de la temperature de Pair/ 

 by Nakamura ; ' Studies on Atmospheric Electricity,' by Homma ; 

 ' Earth Temperature at Tokyo,' by Oishi ; ' Temperature moyenne 

 annuelle de la temperature de la mer dans POcean Pacifique Occidental,' 

 by Wada. Okada has published several papers on the evaporation in 



