METEOROLOGY CLIMATOLOGY. 1053 



METEOROLOGY— CLIMATOLOGY. 



Report on international cloud observations. I, Historical, general circu- 

 lation of the atmosphere, II. II. I^ildebk.vnjksson {Rapport sur les obsenations 

 internationales des ntuigefi. I, Historique, circulation gmerale de V atmosphere. Upmla: 

 Wretman, 1903, pp. 48, pis. S3). — This report contains a brief liistorical .suniniary of 

 the theories of Dove, Maury, Ferrel, and Thomson regardinfj tlie general eircn- 

 lation of the atmosphere and a review of the res»ults of cloud observations at stations 

 in different parts of the world in their bearing on these tlieories. The results are 

 shown graphically in a series of charts for stations selected becau.se of their position 

 in certain critical latitudes, for example, San .lose de Co.sta Rica; "Square No. 3" 

 (Lat. OtolO°N., Long. 20to30° W.); Manila; Mauritius; San Fernando and Lisbon; 

 Habana; Lahore, Allahabad, and Calcutta; Kurrachee, Bombay, and Cuttack; Blue 

 Hill; Paris; several in England, Germany, and Denmark; Upsala, and others in 

 Sweden; and places in Norway, Siberia, China, Japan, and other regions. 



The author's conclusions, as translated by Professor Ward," are as follows: "(1) 

 Above .the heat equator and the equatorial calms there is, throughout the year, a 

 current from the east whi(;li seems to have very high velocities at great altitudes. 

 (2) Above the trades there is an anti-trade from SW. in the northern, and from NW. 

 in the southern hemisphere. (3) This anti-trade does not extend beyond the polar 

 limit of the trade; it is deflected more and more to the riglit in the northern, and 

 more and more to the left in the southern hemisphere, and finally becomes a current 

 from the west above the crest of the tropical high pressure belts, where it descends 

 to supply the trades. (4) The districts at the equatorial margin of the trades are 

 jiartly in the trades and partly in the equatorial calms, according to the season. 

 Above them there is\ therefore, an upper monsoon — the anti-trade in winter, and the 

 equatorial current from the east in summer. (5) From the tropical high pressure 

 belts the air pressure on the whole decreases continuously toward the poles, at least 

 to beyond the j^olar circles. Further, the air of the temperate zone is drawn into a 

 vast ' polar whirl ' turning from west to east. This whirling movement seems to be 

 of the same nature as that in an ordinary cyclone. The air of the lower strata 

 approaches the center, while that of the higher strata tends out from the center, and 

 this outward tendency increases with the altitude above sea level as far up as the 

 greatest altitudes from which we have observations. (6) The upper currents of the 

 atmosphere in the temperate zones extend over the tropical high pressure belts, and 

 descend there. (7) The irregularities which are noted at the earth's surface, espe- 

 cially in the regions of the Asian monsoons, as a whole disapi)ear at the lower or 

 intermediate cloud levels. (8) We must entirely abandon the notion of a vertical 

 circulation between tropics and poles which has up to this time been accepted in 

 accordance with the theories of Ferrel and Thomson." 



The climate of the Bermuda Islands, A. E. Vkrrii.i. {The Jiennuda hhtnds 

 New Haven, Conn.: Aulhor, 1903, pp. .V;?-.9i) .— This article is a part of a comprehen- 

 sive treatise on the Bermuda Islands, published first in the Transactions of the 

 Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences, volume 11. The principal factors deter- 

 mining the character of the climate of Bermuda are its insular position and proxim- 

 ity to the Gulf strean.i. These prevent extremes of temperature and sudden changes. 

 "The average temperature during the three winter months and Man-h is from (53 

 to 66° F.; April, about 65.5°; May, 70.5°; June, 76°; July, 80°; August, 81.7°; Sep- 

 tember, 80°; October, 73.7°; November, 68°. The average for the year is about 70° 

 F., but ranges from 69.5 to 70.5°. But temperatures as low as 50 to 53° are not 

 uncommon in winter; 42° is rarely reached. It is rarely as high as 87° in summer, 

 but the mean relative humidity, during the summer months, r anges from 80 to 



« Science, n. ser., 17 (1903), No. 436, pp. 752, 75.3. 



