620 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. [Vol.41 



The habitabiUty of the coast region Is improved by land and sea breezes, and 

 of the Interior by elevation. Humidity is high, and the dry season Is charac- 

 terized by excessive dews which are sufficient to support plant life. Travel, 

 transportation, communication, and food supply are controlled to a large 

 extent by the rainfall. White people can maintain health only by great care 

 in matters of sanitation and personal hygiene. "At present the relation of 

 whites to the African West Coast can only be one of tolerance." 



Climate of British Columbia, F. N. Denison (Brit. Columbia Dept. Agr. Bui. 

 27, 4- ed. (1919), pp. 2S). — Tables give data for temperature, precipitation, and 

 sunshine for the various districts of British Columbia during 1916, 1917, and 

 1918. 



" Generally speaking, the climate of this Province greatly resembles that 

 of the European countries lying within the same parallels of latitude, and ex- 

 tending from the British Isles to the Baltic Provinces. Owing to the tempering 

 effect of the Pacific Ocean, the winters on the coast are remarkably mild and 

 the summers cool. Heavy rains occur in winter on the west coast of Vancouver 

 Island and on che western side of the coast mountains on the mainland, while 

 on the eastern portion of Vancouver Island the precipitation is comparatively 

 light, and at the southern extremity about Victoria It Is remarkably so, while 

 the amount of bright sunshine exceeds that recorded at other British Columbia 

 stations. Throughout the interior of this Province the precipitation and tem- 

 perature vary greatly, according to local physical conditions. In some districts 

 between the mountain ranges the rainfall is so light that irrigation Is neces- 

 sary, and maximum summer temperatures range from 90 to 100° F." 



Climate of Brazil (In Dados Estatisticos. Rio de Janeiro: Min. Agr., Indus, 

 e Com., 1918, pp. 13-3S). — Tabulated data are given for temperature and precipi- 

 tation for various places during each month, 1912-1916. 



Nitrogen and other compounds in rain and snow, J. E. Tbieschmann 

 (Chem. News, 119 (1919), No. S09Jf, p. 49). — Continuing accounts of previous 

 studies (E. S. R., 38, p. 416), the author summarizes the results of determina- 

 tions of nitrogen compounds, sulphates, and chlorin in rain and snow at Cor- 

 nell College, Iowa, from October 1, 1918, to June 15, 1919. 



SOILS— FERTILIZERS. 



A soil classification for Michigan, O. O. Sauer (Ann. Rpt. Mich. Acad. Sci., 

 20 (1918), pp. 83-91). — As a result of studies at the University of Michigan, 

 it is stated that with reference to Michigan soils, " the Bureau of Soils [U. S. 

 Department of Agriculture] classification appears too assertive of the specific 

 identity of soils, too inadequately formulated in the bases of classification, and 

 involved in inconsistency in its largest division, the soil pi'ovince. As alterna- 

 tive to the establishment of hard and fast soil types, Micliigan soils may be 

 classed according to a system similar to that formulated by the committee of 

 the American Society of Agronomy. . . . The five Atterberg divisions appear 

 to supply a sufficient determination of sizes of soil particles for Michigan con- 

 ditions, and to be preferable In the determination of upper and lower limits of 

 size." 



On this basis a soil classification for Michigan is formulated. 



Soil survey of Buena Vista County, Iowa, L. V. Davis and H. W. Wabneb 

 (U. S. Dept. Agr., Adv. SJieets Field Oper. Bur. Soils, 1917, pp. 37, pis. J,, fig. 1, 

 map 1). — This survey, made in cooperation with the Iowa Experiment Station, 

 deals with the soils of an area of 305,440 acres in northwestern Iowa, which 

 topographically includes a morainic division with almost no natural drainage 

 and an erosional division well supplied with natural drainage. The county lies 



