Book Reviews 
THE CLIMATE AND WEATHER OF SAN Disco, Catirornia, by Ford 
A. Carpenter, local forecaster. Illustrated with photographs and 
charts by the author and others. Published by the San Diego 
Chamber of Commerce, 1913. 118 pages. 
The following quotation from Humboldt is seen on the title 
page: ‘‘The term climate, in its broadest sense, implies all the 
changes in the atmosphere which sensibly affect one’s physical 
condition.’? That is probably the best definition of that word. — 
And we know that all the forms and colors of animals—the 
evolution of animal life—are due directly or indirectly to the 
environment; so a study of the elements in the environment of 
animals is necessary for the naturalist, if he wishes to really 
know about his subjects of study. And the various parts of the 
environment are due largely to the temperature and other 
weather conditions. 
There are 27 short chapters dealing in a clear way with various 
meteorological subjects, just what a biologist in this region 
should know. There are 15 full-page and instructive plates and 
12 suggestive and useful charts in the text; there are 15 tables 
showing meteorological conditions over a series of years, and 
these will prove especially useful to students in correlating insect 
periodicity and other phenomena which are hardly understood. 
The plants and animals, as is well known, are more prone to vary 
in every direction in California than in any other state. This is 
due, in part, to the great diversity of climate; the numerous 
mountain ranges and isolated valleys. There are three distinct 
climates within San Diego county—the nearly sub-tropical coast 
climate of the bay region, the.climate of the mountainous district 
and the desert climate of the’far east. Of course there are many 
other conditions which have to be taken into account; and only a 
_ close perusal of this book and McAdie’s Climatology of Cali- 
fornia could show these. Climatology will be the next study 
for the student of peoe mane distribution and species for- 
mation. F’. GRInNELL, JR. 
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