Aug. 3, 1876] 



NATURE 



295 



and the protoplasm aggregating about the new centres, 

 the spherule by successive stages (Figs. 3-5) reaches a 

 condition in which it forms an assemblage of individuals 

 held together by their gelatinous investments. These 

 aggregates break up, and the individuals disperse. Their 

 subsequent degree of elongation varies, but a biscuit- 

 shaped form is a common one. Like other Bacteria 

 they divide repeatedly, and ultimately accumulate in 

 masses at the bottom of the fluid or on the surface in 

 reticulated arrangements (Fig. 6), which are sufficiently 

 permanent from the adhesion of their gelatinised coats 

 (Zooglcea stage). The parallelism which these processes 

 possess with those of higher forms of Algae will be 

 alluded to hereafter. The whole of the Schizoniycetes or 

 Bactetia appear to be reduced representatives of the 

 Oscillato7'ie(e, a group of Protophyta which possess the 

 chlorophyll which Schizomycetes have lost. They have, 

 in addition, a peculiar bluish tint, and this may be recog- 

 nised in Bacterium Termo. 



The Saccharomycetes must be dismissed very briefly. 

 Yeast {Saccharomycetes cerevistce), consisting of pale 

 spherical cells about ^(nnr in- in diameter, is the type of 

 the group, and multiplies, not like Bacteria, by fission, 

 but by the budding out of new individuals from different 

 points of the parent cell, these often forming a short chain 

 by repetition of the process, but being subsequently 

 detached by constriction. Under conditions unfavour- 

 able to growth, as when the yeast is cultivated on slabs of 

 moist plaster of Paris, beside growth by external extension, 

 there is also a process of internal segmentation of the 

 protoplasm (first observed by Reess). These two modes 

 of reproduction may be compared to the two which take 

 place in Bacterium rnbescetis. The latter of these in the 

 case of yeast results (Fig. 7) in the massing of the proto- 

 plasm into four spores which are finally set free by the 

 disruption of the parent cell-wall. They germinate when 

 put into a favourable fluid, and reproduce chains (Fig. 8). 



The ferment of wine {Mycoderma vini), besides other 

 points of difference, produces cylindrical instead of spheri- 

 cal cells. These also give rise to spores (Fig. 9) by in- 

 ternal segmentation. W. T. Thiselton Dyer 



{To be continued^ 



METEOROLOGY IN JAPAN J 



EACH of the numbers of Mr. McVean's publication 

 gives the tri-daily observations of the various 

 meteorological elements for five days, beginning with 

 December 2, 1875, with the means and extremes for each 

 of the five-day periods. The observations and reductions 

 of each sheet have been made with great fulness and 

 discrimination, and we hope Mr. McVean will soon be 

 in a position to extend his system of observation to more 

 places than Tokei, so as to give the data for the deter- 

 mination of the meteorology of Japan, which, from its 

 relations to the continent of Asia and ocean currents, 

 presents many points of great and peculiar interest. 



The data discussed in Staff-Commander Tizard's " Con- 

 tribution to the Meteorology of Japan " have not been 

 obtained through the observing staff of the Challenger, 

 but from records lent by the Superintendent of Japanese 

 Lighthouses and Buoys. They consist of observations 

 of the barometer, thermometer, rain-gauge, wind and 

 weather, as made at twelve lighthouses, two lightships, 

 and at Yedo, the monthly averages of which are repre- 

 sented on four diagrams. The barometric and wind 

 results are besides shown, by isobars and arrows, on 

 twelve small maps for the different months of the year. 

 The Meteorological Committee publish, as an appendix 



' Observations taken at the Imperial Meteorological Observatory, Tokei, 

 Japan, under the direction of C. A. McVean, Surveyor-in-Chief, No. i to 

 23 — " Contribution to the Meteorology of Japan," by Staff-Commander 

 1'. H. Tizard, H.M.S. Challenger. Published by the authority of the 

 Meteorological Committee, Official No. 28. 



to the paper, six closely-printed pages of tabular matter, 

 giving the results of observations made in the seas of 

 China and Japan, deduced from registers kept for the 

 Meteorological Office. 



The winds are, perhaps, the most valuable part of the 

 paper, as showing the variations of wind with season at 

 different places on the coast ; they are, moreover, in 

 general accordance with what was previously known of 

 the meteorology of Japan. The rain results are in- 

 teresting, but they would have been more valuible if the 

 position of the gauges had been stated. From the 

 necessarily faulty position of the thermometers, viz., " in 

 the gallery outside the lantern in the air and shade," the 

 averages of temperatures can only be regarded as roughly 

 approximate. Thus it is difficult to see how, if the mean 

 temperature of July be 76°'3 at Yedo, it is 86°'6 at 

 Nagasaki. 



The barometrical results can be regarded with nothing 

 but astonishment. In the winter months the mean pressure 

 decreases from the isobar of 30'30 inches, which skirts 

 the south coast to the isobar of 30' lo inches, which passes 

 through the centre of Japan, the lie of the isobars being 

 from about W.S.W. to E.N.E. With this distribution of 

 pressure, all meteorological observation would lead us to 

 expect the prevailing winter winds of Japan to be south- 

 westerly. The observations, on the contrary, show the pre- 

 vailing winds to be northerly, in other words, they are in 

 direct opposition to Buys Ballot's law of the winds. In sum- 

 mer the results are still more extraordinary. In these warm 

 months pressure increases from the sea-coast inland. 

 From Yedo westward to Sikok, a distance of about 350 

 miles, the lie of the isobars is from about W.S.W. to 

 E.N.E., the highest isobar being the most northern. 

 From this disposition of the isobars the laws established 

 by meteorology would lead us to expect northerly winds. 

 Observation, however, shows on this part of Japan the 

 prevailing summer winds to be southerly. In this season, 

 also, Buys Ballot's law of the winds is violated. 



The discussion of this paper, therefore, teaches us that 

 if we stand with our back to the wind in Japan, the low 

 barometer is on our right, whilst everywhere else in the 

 northern hemisphere from which we have observations, 

 the low barometer is to our left. 



But this is not all. In August the mean pressure at 

 32° and sea-level at Sagami (lat. N. 35°"8, long. E. I39°"4i) 

 is 29*37 1 inches, and in the same month at Yedo (lat. 

 N. 35°'4i, long. E. I39°'47) the mean pressure is 29*931 

 inches. These places, which are about thirty-three miles 

 apart, have a difference in their mean atmospheric pres- 

 sure for August of o*s6o inch, thus giving a gradient in 

 the mean pressio'e in August of an inch in sixty miles. 

 So far as we are aware, the steepest gradient yet noted at 

 any time in this country was an inch in seventy-two miles 

 during the Edinburgh hurricane of January 24, 1868 — a 

 gradient accompanied with a wind which threw down 

 solid masonry, and horses as if they had been "jointless 

 pieces of wood" {Jotir. Scot. Met. Soc, vol.ii.p. 177). Japan, 

 however, presents us, in the above results, with an average 

 summer gradient which, while it exceeds the maximum 

 gradient attained during the Edinburgh hurricajie, is 

 accompanied only with delightful breezes as the prevailing 

 summer winds of its coasts. 



Most meteorologists will perhaps be inclined with us to 

 let their notions regarding aerial movements remain un- 

 disturbed till it appears whether these results may not 

 have sprung from extraordinarily constructed or dis- 

 ordered instruments, or even, it may be, clever manipula- 

 tions. 



While allowing that the author of the paper, who does 

 not appear to be familiar with what has been done in 

 meteorology in recent years, has discussed the materials 

 before him with some ability, we can only express our regret 

 that the Meteorological Committee have authorised the 

 publication of the paper in its present shape, and included 



