Nov. 2, 1876] 



NATURE 



17 



Refirring to our recent correspondence on "Antedated 

 Books," a correspondent calls attention to another evil practice 

 that has of late years crept into the publishing trade, namely, 

 that of publishing books without any date at all. Our corre- 

 spondent mentions two firms that sin extensively in this respect ; 

 j)ut there are several others, especially in what is known as the 



'number trade," who of vialice prepense publish undated books, 

 ^uch books are generally of small literary or scien'.ific value, 



it circulate among a class who are generally unable to test 

 their value. Of course the purpose of issuing undated books is 

 evident ; works half a century old may be palmed off on the 

 unknowing as the genuine product of the current year. 



We understand that Dr. A. Wojeikoff, of St. Petersbui-g, has 

 arrived at Singapore from Batavia on his way to Japan, on what 

 may be truly characterised as a meteorological tour, at his own 

 expense, over the whole civilised world. The tour was begun 

 upwards of seven years ago, when the greater part of Europe 

 was visited, and after a return to and brief residence in Russia, 

 was again resumed through the United States, extending as far 

 as Manitoba, and thence southwards through South America, 

 and onwards to the East India Islands. Those who have had 

 the pleasure of meeting him know that this tour means a large 

 amount of meteorological work, in the prosecution of which he 

 has made prolonged sojourns in different regions with the view 

 of familiarising himself practically with their meteorology and 

 with the steps which have been taken towards its investigation. 

 The training which this able meteorologist is giving himself well 

 deservei our warmest commendation. 



As being somewhat analogous to the above, it may be notified 

 that Dr. Hamberg, meteorological assistant to Prof. H. Hilde- 

 brandsson, of Upsal University, is at present engaged on a year's 

 tour through Europe for the purpose of familiarising himself 

 with the systems of meteorological research pursued in different 

 countries, funds for the purpose having been provided by the 

 Upsal University. This is real professional education, and 

 deserves to be carried out more extensively and in a more 

 Catholic spirit than has yet been done by our British Uni- 

 versities. 



We have received from Prof. Dove the Monatliche Mittd fiir 

 Druck, Temperatur, Feuckligkeii, und Niederschldgeund filnjtdgige 

 Warmemittel for 1875. In addition to the usual meteoro- 

 logical results, this admirable annual serial gives the five-day 

 means of temperature for the year and their departure from 

 the means of the twenty years ending 1867, and the same for ten 

 Austrian, thirteen Swiss, and twenty-four Italian stations, thus 

 presenting in a clear manner the temperature conditions of Ger- 

 many, and their relations to those of immediately surrounding 

 regions during 1875. The results of the observations made at 

 the Forest-stations of Bavaria and additional rain returns are 

 also given, together with a most valuable rhumS of the monthly 

 amounts of rainfall observed at all stations in Germany during 

 the past five years, and monthly and annual averages of rainfall 

 calculated from all the past observations at each place as are 

 available. The latitude, longitude, and height of the Austrian, 

 Swiss, and Italian stations are stated, and we very earnestly hope 

 that, with next issue. Prof. Dove will be able to give the data 

 for his stations in Germany, the want of which is felt to be a 

 serious omission in nearly all discussions of German meteo- 

 rology. 



In a paper in this month's Petermann's Mittheilu/tqen Prof. 

 H. Fritz treats of the Geographical Distribution of Hail. He 

 refers to our comparative ignorance of the origin and peculiarities 

 of the appearance of hail, of the want of [long series of observa- 

 tions on the subject, and in those that do exist of the frequent 

 confounding of hail and graupel — the balls of true hail having 

 an icy structure, whereas the balls of graupel are only small 



pellets of snow. The latter he shows falls in all latitudes 

 and at all heights ; while hail is mainly confined to middle 

 latitudes. In high latitudes and in tropical valleys, hail is 

 a rare phenomenon. Prof. Fritz brings 'together for com- 

 parison observations on the subject made in various quarters of 

 the globe, the statistics being, as might be expected, fullest in 

 the case of Europe. The following are some of his conclusions 

 from these data : — He infers that hail occurs whenever the 

 moisture of the atmosphere is precipitated in very great quantity 

 as rain or snow, and that hail phenomena correspond to the 

 amount of this excess of precipitation. With increase in latitude 

 and in height the fall of graupel increases and that of hail decreases, 

 while hailstones of large size are most frequent towards the 

 equator. But since in the low lands of the tropics hail is little 

 known, the regions of the most frequent and especially most 

 destructive hailstorms belong to the middle latitudes, while in 

 high and low latitudes hail-falls of large stones are exceptional 

 It appears then that no region in which an excessive rainfall 

 occurs is secure against hailstorms, if only the height of fall is 

 sufficient to allow of the formation of hail. In high latitudes 

 and in high table-lands the vertical distances to the atmospheric 

 strata with temperature below zero are small, and therefore 

 more snow and graupel will fall than hail, while in middle and low 

 latitudes this distance, especially in summer, is great enough to 

 allow of the formation of large hailstones. North and south of 

 the zone of calms the hail-fall becomes more frequent and 

 reaches its maximum between 40° and 60° of latitude. The 

 currents of the atmosphere and the formation of the land-masses 

 have also an influence on the distribution of hail. A satisfactory 

 solution of the hail question can, however, only be obtained by 

 complete series of observations, the details for each station being 

 given separately, and the distinction between true hail and 

 graupel being attended to. 



The German Society for Arctic Exploration (Bremen) has 

 just heard from Drs. Finsch and Brehm. They speak of the most 

 difficult part of their journey from the Ob to the Kara Sea 

 through a hitherto quite unknown region, which they performed 

 partly in boat, partly by reindeer, and partly on foot, over the 

 Tundras. The knowledge obtained by the expedition in this 

 region is an important contribution to the geography of West. 

 Siberia. The collections with reference to the ethnology of the 

 Samoyeds and Ostiaks are especially valuable, as also the 

 specimens of birds and fishes. The travellers expected to be 

 home by the beginning of this month. 



Prof. James Orton, of Vassar College, U.S., has nearly 

 completed his preparations for the exploration of the river Beni, 

 a little known tributary of the Madeira River, the largest affluent 

 of the Amazon. Prof. Orton sums up the special objects of the 

 survey as follows : i. To solve some of the most interesting and 

 important geographical problems of the day. 2. To search for 

 the traces of the ancient military roads, probably built by the 

 Inca Yupanqui when he invaded that region. 3. To open up 

 the trade of the eastern slope of the Andes with the United 

 States. In Prof. Orton's opinion, the search for the source of 

 the Nile, while of not greater interest than that of the Beni, is of 

 very much less commercial value. 



In a paper on " The Climate Controversy," published in the 

 two last numbers of the Geological Magazine, Mr. Searles V. 

 Wood, jun., discusses the possible cause of the latest changes of 

 climate experienced by the earth. The aim of Mr. Wood is 

 less to advocate some special solution of the question than to 

 insist on the difficulties which beset all the theories hitherto 

 offered as a solution, and which are (i) a decrease in the original 

 heat of our planet ; (2) changes in the obliquity of the ecliptic ; 

 (3) the combined effect of the precession of the equinoxes and of 

 the excentricity of the earth's orbit ; (4) changes in distribution 



