METEOEOLOGY. 509 



districts of England and Wales are summarized in tables and discussed as usual 

 with reference to agricultural couditious. The annual and average rainfall 

 (1904-1914) at different places in the United Kingdom are also tabulated. It 

 is stated that agriculturally the most notable feature of the weather of the year 

 was the irregularity of the rainfall. Nevertheless " the crops were on the whole 

 in excess of the average." 



The weather of 1914, D. A. Gilchrist {County Northumh. Ed. Com. Bui. 22 

 (1915), pp. 95-101).— The rainfall during 1914 at the Cockle Park Experiment 

 Station is compared with that of previous years and other regions of England. 



The rainfall at this place was 30.7 in., or 1.75 in. above the 17-year average. 

 The number of rain days was 199. The heaviest rainfall (4.26 in.) was in 

 December; the lightest (0.61 in.) in April. Data are also given for pressure, 

 temperature of air and soil (see p. 510), summer frosts (1898-1914), humidity, 

 cloudiness, wind, etc. The mean temperature for the year was 47.3° F. ; the 

 maximum, 77.2°, June 30 ; the mini-mum 24.4°, December 21. Frost temperatures 

 on the grass were recorded as late as June 1 and as early as September 22. 



The weather of Scotland in 1914, A. Watt (Trans. Higliland and Agr. Soc. 

 Scot., 5. ser., 27 (1915), pp. 341-354).— " This report consists of (1) a general 

 description of the weather over the Scottish area from month to month; (2) a 

 selection of rainfall returns, in which each county in Scotland is represented by 

 one or more stations. . . . 



" The outstanding feature of the year as regards weather was the more or 

 less general prolonged shortage of rain from the middle of April to the end of 

 October. At the end of October the total rainfall for the first ten months of 

 1914 was, as a rule, much below the normal, but the heavy rains of November 

 and December brought about in various inland and western districts an excess 

 for the whole year. In eastern districts there was a fairly well-defined 

 deficiency." 



Meteorological observations in Moscow during 1913—14, E. Leyst (Bui. 

 Soc. Imp. Nat. Moscou, No. 4 (1913), pp. 616-664; n. ser., 28 (1914), pp. 279- 

 327). — Data for atmospheric pressure, temperature of the air and soil, radiation, 

 humidity of the air, cloudiness, duration of sunshine, precipitation, direction and 

 force of the wind, and miscellaneous optical and electrical phenomena are sum- 

 marized and briefly discussed. 



Meteorolog'ical observations (Ann. Statis. Egypte, 6 (1914), PP- 9-19). — This 

 article contains a brief note on the meteorological service of Egypt, and sum- 

 marizes the available reliable records of observations on pressure, temperature, 

 humidity, rain days, and nilometer readings at different places in Egypt up to 

 and including 1913. Some of the records run back to 1868. 



On the climate of the principal rubber producing- countries, W. van Bem- 

 MELEN (In International Rubber Congres met Tentoonstelling, Batavia, Sept., 

 1914- Rubber Recueil, Amsterdam: J. H. de Bussy [1915], pp. 145-166, pi. 1). — 

 This article describes the climate of the Amazon and Congo basins, Ceylon, 

 Malacca, Sumatra, Borneo, and Java. 



It is stated in general that " the climate of these countries is purely tropical ; 

 that is to say, warm, damp, and equable. The temperature in the plains is 25 to 

 27° C, declining above the sea level at the rate of about 0.6° for every 100 

 meters. The percentage of moisture in the air is great, and as a result the 

 pressure of aqueous vapor is proportionately high (±20 mm.) and the rainfall 

 is more than abundant (2,000 mm. and more per year) ; above all, however, its 

 evenness is the most conspicuous feature of the climate. The yearly rise and 

 fall in temperature amounts to onl^ a few degrees and the daily difference far 

 exceeds the yearly, though even that is not excessive. Periods of drought are 

 seldom of longer duration than two months. The force of the wind is slight. 



