METEOROLOGY — WATER. 41 7 



as well as the organizations which have been formed in France for protection 

 and insurance against damage from this source. 



International catalogue of scientific literature. F — Meteorology (Internat. 

 Cat, 8ci. Lit., 6 (1008), pp. y///+257).— This is the sixth annual issue of this 

 catalogue, covering mainly the literature of 1906, but also including some refer- 

 ences to the literature of 1901 to 1905 omitted from previous issues. 



International catalogue of scientific literature. "F — Meteorology {Internat. 

 Cat. Sci.Lit.. 7 HUOH). pp. 177/ +28'/). —This is the seventh annual issue of 

 this catalogue, covering mainly the literature of 1907, but also including some 

 references to the literature of 1901 to 1906 omitted from previous issues. 



A new method of weather forecasting, G. Guilbekt (NoitvcUr Mcthode de 

 Prevision du Temps. Paris, 1900, pp. XXXVIII+3.'t3, pis. 3, figs. 85; rev. in 

 Nature [London], 82 (1910), No. 2097, pp. 271, 272).— This book explains in 

 detail the principles underlying the method employed by the author in his suc- 

 cessful contests for the prize offered by the Belgian Society of Astronomy, 

 Meteorology, and Terrestrial Physics in 1905 for the most accurate short-period 

 forecasts of weather. This method is based upon two new principles, which the 

 author explains. 



It is stated in the first place that if in any region the observed wind forces 

 are markedly in excess of the normal for the prevailing barometric gradient at 

 sea level a surge of high pressure in the direction of the gradient may be looked 

 for and' vice versa. " It follows from this general principle that a depression 

 which is surrounded on all sides by winds in excess of the normal will fill up, 

 whereas a depression surrounded by winds in defect will grow deeper. If the 

 defect is great, a depression of small intensity will develop into a violent storm 

 center. A depression round which the distribution of wind force as compared 

 with the prevailing gradient is unsymmetrical will move toward the region of 

 ' least resistance,' i. e., the region where the winds are most conspicuously in 

 defect. In identifying the region of least resistance the second principle is also 

 used. It is based on the conception of ' divergent ' winds. Any wind which has 

 a component directed away from a center of low pressure is divergent for that 

 center, and as such marks a region of low resistance to its advance. Generally 

 speaking, the gi'eater the ' divergence ' the less the ' resistance.' Strong north- 

 erly or northwesterly winds to the eastward of a depression are looked upon as 

 an extreme case of divergence, and as a sure sign of a rapid advance of the 

 depression." 



A large number of rules for forecasting, based upon these two fundamental 

 principles, are elaborated, and the application of these rules is illustrated by a 

 large number of examples taken mainly from forecasts issued by the weather 

 bureau at Paris. The principles enunciated and the rules given are a direct 

 result of a careful study of weather maps ; " they are entirely empirical, and 

 no attempt is made to justify them from general dynamical considerations." 



The book contains a preface by B. Brunhes, director of the Puy de Dome ob- 

 servatory, which calls attention to the fact that Guilbert's rules are consistent 

 with results deduced by Lord Kelvin and Bjerknes for the action of a steady 

 current on a vortex, and describes some laboratory experiments of his own illus- 

 trating the phenomena. 



Evolution of barometric lows and Guilbert's rules for weather forecasting, 

 B. Brunhes (Rev. G6n. Set., 20 (1909), No. 9, pp. 393-406, figs. 8).— This article 

 is a reprint of the preface of the book noted above. 



The influence of the moon on the earth's atmosphere, Schuster (Der Ein- 

 fiuss des Mondes auf unsere Atmosphdrc. Karlsruhe, 190S, pp. 31, pis. 2). — 

 With the observations of the Karlsruhe Meteorological Station as a basis the 



