WEATHER BUREAU. V 



be made by some official having daily access to the extensive system 

 of observations collected by the United States Government from the 

 islands and mainland around and abont the Gulf of Mexico and the 

 Caribbean Sea. 



Observations taken onlj^ on the island of Cuba would not cover an 

 area of sufficient extent to render possible the makins,' of the most 

 accurate warnings. The Weather Bureau has in its possession tlie 

 necessary data on which the most reliable forecasts and warnings for 

 Cuba can be made, and has been glad to render this service to the 

 Cuban Government. 



THE MONTHLY WEATHER REVIEW. 



The Monthly Weather Review has been published as regularly as 

 practicable, but the number for the month of April, 1902, was kept 

 waiting in order to include therein an important memoir on "Rainfall 

 and charts of rainfall," to be illustrated with a special edition of the 

 relief map of the United States, to be furnished by the cooperation of 

 the U. S. Geological Survey. The Review for the month of May was 

 also delayed for about two weeks in order to include therein a plate 

 of the holograph spectrum furnished by the kindness of Prof. S. P. 

 Langley, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. The July Review 

 appeared on time. 



As the Monthly Weather Review continues to be recognized as an 

 important medium for the diffusion of knowledge of the results of 

 work in all branches of climatology and meteorology, no pains have 

 been spared to make it a credit to the Government. The general 

 appearance of the Review has l)een improved by the introduction of 

 new type and a quality of paper that allows the insertion of illustra- 

 tions in the text, thereby diminishing the general cost of printing. I 

 asked Professor Abbe to prepare a brief statement of the articles 

 most important to meteorological science that have appeared during 

 the past year. Special mention i ^ made of the following: 



(1) Byron McFarland: '"The thunderstorm — a new explanation of one of its 

 phenomena." In this the author maintains that the descending mass of cool air 

 accompanying the rain, by reason of its greater density and pressure, causes the 

 sudden rise in the barometer that generally accompanies a thunderstorm. 



(2) Marcel Brillouin: "Historical introduction to his collection of original 

 memoirs on the general circulation of the atmosphere."' This is an excellent 

 critical review of important publications on the movements of the atmosphere. 

 The author especially enforced the necessity of studying the atmosphere in con- 

 nection with the real surface of the earth, and not the ideal uniform globe that is 

 generally considered by mathematicians. 



(3) Frank W. Very: "The solar constant." This is an admirable review of 

 the present state of our knowledge of the amount of heat received by the atmos- 

 phere from the sun. and the amomits absorbed and radiated by the air. Professor 

 Very also gives some fundamental suggestions as to the method of investigating 

 this subject, which is so important to meteorology. This article has been very 

 favorably noticed by Eiiropean reviewers. 



(4) H. H. Kimball: "Ice caves and frozen wells. " This embodies the results 

 of a personal examination of several cases in which ice is formed and preserved 

 under ground. Mr. Kimball gives a satisfactory general explanation of the mete- 

 orological conditions necessary to this formation of ice. showing that, in general, 

 caves, wells, and porous ground are cooled by the percol iti )n of cold air to such 

 an extent that the cold ground will freeze any water that may subse(iuently flow 

 into it. He cites cases of stalactites and stalagmites of ice in deserted iron mines. 

 Taken in C(mnection with the exhaustive descriptive work by E. S. Bilch. of 

 Philadelphia, we have now a very satisfactory idea of the process by which ice 

 caves, ice beds, and frozen wells are formed throughout the world, and the former 



