METEOROLOGY — WATER. 511 



Climate and meteorology of Australia {Off. Yearbook Aust., 6 {1901-1912), 

 pp. 67-102, figs. S). — This is a summary in tbe usual form for the Australian 

 Commonweal til up to the end of 1912. 



The station of agricultural meteorology at Eiudabella, J. P. Gil (X. 

 Cong. Intermit. Agr. Gand, 1913, Sect. 2, Question 2, pp. 9). — Tbe character and 

 purpose of the observations made at this station are briefly discussed, and 

 observations on temperature, rainfall, sunshine, cloudiness, and wind move- 

 ment durinfT tbe years 1908-1012 are summarized. 



The rains of the Nile Basin and the Nile flood of 1911, J. I. Craig (Survey 

 Dept. Egypt Paper 27 (1913), pp. 110, pis. 9, figs. 2).— Observations similar to 

 those of previous years (E. S. li., 28, p. 315), are included in this report. 



As regards tbe accuracy of discbarge measurements and existing incon- 

 sistencies among tbe discbarge results, tbe author is of tbe opinion that 

 "some of these inconsistencies can doubtlessly be traced to . . . scour and silt- 

 ing of tbe channel, but these disturbances are not systematic, and in the long 

 run or over a series of gages average out. . . . However, certain systematic 

 causes are at work, and insufficient attention has hitherto been paid to turbu- 

 lence, whose effect is always to give a discharge apparently too great. On 

 this hypothesis, many inconsistencies, at present difficult of explanation, can be 

 qualitatively explained, and when an adequate means of measuring turbulence 

 is found, tbe quantitative explanation will follow." 



Protection against hail by means of electric niagaras in Beaujolais, 

 France, E. Lasnier {Vie Agr. et Rurale, 2 {1913), No. Jf9, pp. 585-588, figs. 2; 

 Dent. Landw. Presse, J^l {1914), No. 3, p. 28). — Tbe general conclusion drawn 

 from a review of tbe experiments in Beaujolais during 1912 and 1913 is that 

 the " electric niagaras " proposed by Beaucbamp and Negrier were ineffective 

 as a means of protection against bail. 



" Gnamma holes" and "night wells," M. Maclaren (Ccol. Mag. [London], 

 n. ser., V, 9 {1912), No. 7, pp. 301-30^, figs. 2; ahs. in Geol. ZenthL, 19 {1913), 

 No. 1, p. 21; Wasser u. Abwasser, 7 {1913), No. 9, p. 361). — The author describes 

 tbe appearance and origin of these water supplies. Tbe " gnamma holes" are 

 said to be formed by the erosive action of wind and subsurface water, while 

 tbe "night wells," in which water appears only at night, are caused by the 

 arching of tbe gneiss sheets during tbe heat of tbe day, causing tbe water to 

 recede and reappear only at night when tbe sheets have cooled and flattened. 



The action of an alkaline natural water on lead, J. F. Liverseege and A. W. 

 K-NAPP (Chem. News, 108 {1913), No. 2811, p. 176; abs. in Chcm. Abs., 8 {19U), 

 No. 2, p. 887). — Tests of a municipal water supply relative to its action on lead 

 pipe and sheet lead showed an eroding but not a solvent action w^bich is said 

 to be due to the action of oxygen in tbe presence of water. 



"As a rule a pipe becomes with age less sensitive to the action of the water 

 but the rate of this change varies greatly with different pipes. Treatment of 

 new pipes with a dilute solution of potassium permanganate gave them a con- 

 siderable power of resistance to the action of the water. . . . The amount of 

 lead eroded is affected by tbe distance from the lead to tbe water surface, is 

 generally proportional to tbe area of the surface of tbe lead exposed, and does 

 not depend on tbe volume of tbe water. . . . Four i)arts per 100,000 of calcium 

 carbonate gave in-otection, and as little as two parts per 100,000 of calcium 

 bicarbonate were sufficient ])ractically to prevent erosion." 



Water purification and sewage disposal, J. Tillmans, trans, by H. S. 

 Taylor (New York, 1913, pp. XV-{-lJf3, figs. 21). — It is the pun)ose of this book 

 to give a survey " as complete as ix)ssible of tbe i)resent ix)Sition in regard to 

 water purification and sewage disposal " from tbe German point of view. " Tbe 

 careful attention which has been paid by the German authorities during the 



