METEOROLOGY WATEE. 17 



"Surface" climate, W. L. Balls (Rpt. Brit. Assoc. Adv. 8ci , 1912, pp. 7S9, 

 74O). — This article calls attention to the wide variations in temperature, 

 humidity, etc., which may occur among crops within even a few inches of alti- 

 tude. It is stated that in observations on the cotton crop in Egypt it was found 

 "that a puff of wind arising during an otherwise calm, clear night will raise 

 the temperature of the crop by more than 5° C. Since the growth of the plant 

 is controlled chiefly by night temperature, such a rise is not without impor- 

 tance. The explanation lies in the removal of air which has been chilled by 

 radiation from the plant, and its replacement by air at 'screen temperature.' 

 Transpiration of water from the plant is negligible at night." 



Meteorological conditions in a field crop, with a description of two simple 

 recorders, W. L. Balls (Quart. Jour. Roy. Met. 80c. ILondon], 39 {lOlS), No. 

 166, pp. 109-113, figs. 3). — This article reports the results of observations on 

 temperature, humidity, and wind movement in a field of cotton in Egypt as 

 noted in the abstract above. It also describes simple forms of an anemograph 

 and a differential thermograph used in these observations. 



Meteorolog-ical yearbook for 1913 (Annuaire M6t^orologique pour 1913. 

 Brussels, 1912, pp. VI +323, pis. 39, figs. 7). — This volume contains a clima- 

 tological review for Belgium for 1912, a summary of meteorological observations 

 at the Uccle observatory, and a detailed study of hail and other storms in Bel- 

 gium, besides special articles on the Besson nephoscope, comparative tests of 

 different forms of shade thermometers, ascensions of sounding balloons, temper- 

 ature of the North Sea, and infiltration of meteoric waters in the soil as meas- 

 ured by a lysimeter. 



Temperature records, J. B. Thompson (Guam Sta. Rpt. 1912, pp. 28, 29, figs. 

 2). — Records of maximum and minimum temperatures at the Guam Station 

 throughout the year ended June 30, 1912, are shown in charts. 



Rain and its measurement, L. Dumas (Ann. QemUoux, 23 (1913), No. 6, pp. 

 261-299). — The author deals in a broad general way with the phenomenon of 

 rainfall and with rain and snow in their relations to climate, locality, and agri- 

 culture. He discusses evaporation from air and soils, humidity, temperature, 

 and intensity of rainfall in their relations to each other, and also the accuracy 

 of rain gages. He takes up particularly the relation of rainfall to soil and 

 vegetation, considering as the normal rainfall for a region that amount which 

 satisfies the average cultural conditions. 



Conservation of rainfall, W. J. Spillman (U. S. Senate, 63. Cong., 1. Sess.. 

 Doc. 22s, 1913, pp. 5). — Attention is called in this document to the beneficial 

 results obtained by the use of a system of embankments for conserving rainfall 

 and preventing soil erosion on a light sandy soil which includes forests, pastures, 

 and cultivated fields. 



Surface water supply of the South Atlantic coast and eastern Gulf of 

 Mexico drainage basins, 1911, M. R. Hall and C. H. Pierce (U. 8. Geol. 

 Survey, Water-Snpply Paper 302, 1913, pp. 90, pis. ^). — This paper reports the 

 results of measurements of flow made during 1911, in the James, Roanoke, Yad- 

 kin, Savannah, and Altamaha river basins on the South Atlantic coast, and in the 

 Apalachicola, Choctawha tehee, Escambia, and Mobile river basins of the east 

 coast of the Gulf of Mexico. Tables are also included giving gage heights and 

 daily and monthly discharges at each station. A summary of the discharge 

 per square mile indicates an almost entire lack of uniformity or agreement 

 between any two stations. 



Geology and ground waters of Florida, G. C. Matson and S. Sanford ( U. 8. 

 Oeol. Survey, Water-supply Paper 319, 1913, pp. U5, pis. 16, figs. 7).— This 

 paper gives a detailed report on the geography, stratigraphy, and geologic hie- 



