SOILS FERTILIZERS. 211 



Darkest Hour Come Just Before Dawn ? and Notes on Balloon Observations and 

 on Waterspouts from the Voyage of La P6rouse. 



The weathier and climate of Chicago, H. J. Cox and J. H. Aemington 

 (Geogr. Soc. Chicago Bui. J, {WW, pp. XXV -{-315, pJs. 3, figs. 110).— The char- 

 acteristic features of the climate and weather of Chicago are dealt with in 

 detail. In the main divisions of the work the order adopted is that of annual, 

 seasonal, and monthly values followed by a discussion of daily conditions. 

 Temperature, precipitation, atmospheric moisture, cloudiness and sunshine, 

 wind direction and velocity, and barometric pressure are discussed in turn. 

 The data upon which these discussions are based are chiefly those of the 

 official records of the Weather Bureau beginning with the establishment of the 

 local weather office in October, 1S70. 



Report on meteorolog'ical observations at Wisley, 1913, R. H. Curtis 

 {Jour. Roy. Bort. Soc. iLomlon], 40 {191^), No. i, pp. 50-64, figs. 4).— The 

 meteorological conditions, mainly temperature and rainfall, of each month of 

 the year are summarized and compared with conditions in other parts of the 

 United Kingdom. 



The rainy season in southern Rhodesia, E. Goetz {Rhodesia Agr. Jour., 11 

 (1914), No. 5, pp. 689-702). — ^The characteristic conditions preceding and 

 accompanying the rainy season which begins in this region about the last of 

 October and ends about the last of March are briefly discussed. The rains like 

 most other weather changes proceed from the west to the east. 



The microbic content of indoor and outdoor air, C. B. A. Winslow and 

 W. W. Browne {Mo. Weather Rev., 42 {1914), No. 7, pp. 452, ^53).— Examina- 

 tions of 353 samples of air from different sources indicate that "(1) the number 

 of microbes developing at 20° C. from outdoor air in suburban districts is 

 generally under 50 per cubic foot and rarely over 100. The count at 37° C. 

 for such air is about half that at 20° C. and rarely over 50 per cubic foot. The 

 number of mouth streptococci in such air is small — in the neighborhood of 10 

 per 100 cu. ft. The air from more remote regions would no doubt show still 

 smaller numbers. 



"(2) The air of city streets shows a slightly higher number of microbes, but 

 the general relations are much the same in all the respects noted above. 



"(3) The air of occupied spaces shows, as might be expected, larger average 

 numbers of bacteria and much greater fluctuations. The 20°-count may average 

 over 100 microbes per cubic foot, as in the factories studied, and may i-each 700 

 or more as in some of the offices. The 37°-count averaged over 50 both in fac- 

 tories and offices and was nearly as high as the 20° -count in the latter case. 

 A few very high 37 "-counts were obtained, two between 1,000 and 2,000 in 

 offices, 'and one of 5,200 in the country, the latter clearly abnormal. Mouth 

 streptococci are much more abundant in indoor air, ranging from 20 to 40 per 

 100 cu. ft. of air, and the I'esults bear out the conclusion that the number of 

 these organisms furnishes a good measure of mouth pollution due to concen- 

 tration of population in confined spaces." 



SOILS— FEETIUZERS. 



The fertility in Iowa soils, P. E. Brown {loiva Sta. Bnl. 150 {1914), pp. 89- 

 152, fig. 1). — This bulletin discusses the soils of Iowa with reference to plant 

 food content, progi-essive removal of plant food by crops, and methods and re- 

 quirements for the maintenance of fertility, and reports chemical analyses of 



