Oct. 7, 1875I 



NATURE 



493 



INTERNA TIONAL ME TEOROLOG V 



Repoyl on Weather Tda^raphy and Storm Warnings to 

 the Meteorological Congress at Vienna, by a Committee 

 appointed at the Leipsig Conference. — Report of the 

 Proceedings of the Conference on Maritime Meteorology, 

 held in London, 1874. (Published by authority of the 

 Meteorological Committee, 1875.) 



THE first of these reports is a clear and admirable 

 statement drawn up by Dr. G. Neumayer, of Berlin, 

 secretary to the Committee, of the present position of 

 Meteorology with reference to storm warnings. In this 

 light we recommend it, as well as the appendix which 

 gives the opinions of nearly all our best meteorologists on 

 this important question, for attentive perusal. It is a 

 significant fact, as marking the change of opinion which 

 has taken place since the Dundee meeting of the British 

 Association, that the Committee declare it to be desirable 

 that in all countries in which up to the present time 

 systems of storm warnings have not been organised, steps 

 leading to such an organisation should be taken as soon 

 as possible. What is now required is the further deve- 

 lopment of the system as regards the principles on which 

 it is based, and its practical application to other public 

 interests than those of commerce and navigation. 



The Maritime Conference which met in September 

 1 874 did some goodwork towards securing for meteorology 

 greater exactness and uniformity in observations made 

 at sea — not the least important consideration being the 

 number of countries represented at the Conference, all of 

 which, it may be inferred, will be guided by the decisions 

 arrived at. Of thejmprovements effected on the Brussels 

 Abstract Log may be noted the recording of the direction 

 and force of the wind as at the time of observation,'and 

 not as estimated for a certain number of previous hours, 

 and the recording of the upper and lower clouds in separate 

 columns. The notation of clouds from o, a clear sky, to 10, 

 an entirely clouded sky, is also an improvement as being in 

 accordance with the procedure now adopted on land. As 

 regards the discussion of ocean statistics, the decision is 

 in every way admirable, viz., that the observations and 

 results be published in such a manner that every foreign 

 institute may be able to incorporate them with its own 

 observations and results ; that, to this end, the number of 

 observations, as well as the means deduced from them, 

 be preserved for single degrees square, and that, whatever 

 charts be published, the results for single degrees square 

 be printed in a tabular form. 



In the proposed English instructions for keeping the 

 log, we regret to see it stated that for all except wind 

 observations it is sufficient to observe at the four-hourly 

 periods, viz. at 4, 8, 12, A.M. and P.M. A strong recom- 

 mendation should have been made to make the 10 a.m. 

 and p.m. observations, particularly with the view of 

 arriving at a correct knowledge of the distribution over 

 the ocean of the daily barometric fluctuation which is of 

 so great importance in its connection with atmospheric 

 physics. Since by the hours recommended, no systematic 

 observation will be made from 8 to 12 a.m. and p.m., the 

 two daily maxima of atmospheric pressure will remain 

 wholly unobserved, even approximately. 



The box for protecting the thermometers on iboard, 

 figured at p. 53 of the Report, is of faulty construction— 



the louvres being 'single and'too wide apart to afford the 

 required protection from the disturbing influences which 

 are so great on board ship. A double-louvred box of the 

 pattern, for instance, of Stevenson's, now so extensively 

 used on land, is indispensable. An arrangement of this 

 sort is the more desirable when it is considered how impor- 

 tant it often is in practical navigation to know with 

 exactness the difference between the temperature of the 

 air and that of the sea. 



It is with much satisfaction that we notice at pp. 19 

 and 20, the resolutions passed with 'reference to the co- 

 operation of the navies of different countries in the working 

 out of the problems of ocean meteorology. Doubtless the 

 time [will soon come when the navy will occupy, in 

 practical ocean meteorology, the place occupied in land 

 meteorology by the Central Office in prosecuting instru- 

 mental and physical researches ; and when it will 

 seriously grapple with the difficult problems of making 

 real wind, rain, and hygromctric observations at sea ; 

 make hourly observations for determining the constants 

 of temperature, humidity, and pressure over the ocean ; 

 and make observations at outlying stations, and observa- 

 tions at oh. 43m. Greenwich mean time, in connection with 

 the United States Signal Office ; as well as collect data on 

 matters more immediately connected with physical geo- 

 graphy, such as those with which the Challenger has 

 enriched physical science. Towards the bringing about 

 of these desired results, the resolutions of the Conference 

 are well-timed. 



OUR BOOK SHELF 



Ratnbhs in search of Shells. By J. E. Harting, F.L.S., 



F.Z.S. (London : John Van Voorst, 1875.) 

 Says the author of this small work, in his introduction : 

 " It has often been a matter of surprise to us that the 

 study of the land and freshwater shells has not more 

 votaries, especially amongst the fair sex. The subject 

 may be easily coupled with botany, being, as it were, 

 nearly associated with it ; for, whether we ramble on the 

 downs, in the woodland, or in the marsh, in search of any 

 particular plant, we seldom fail to find in close proximity 

 to it some species or other of mollusca which claims its 

 shelter or support." The large field of entertaining detail 

 —comparatively little trodden, except by the erudite few— 

 which is opened up by a study of shells and their inmates, 

 cannot be better entered than by a perusal of the work 

 before us. Mr. Harting has a happy way of placing the 

 rudiments of a science in a light which goes far to remove 

 the comparative uninterestingness of its bare facts. These 

 latter he intersperses with references to easily appreciated 

 and well-known collateral associations, which retain the 

 attention of the reader, at the same time that nothing is 

 taught but trustworthy and important principles. It is 

 evident that, to the beginner, the classification adopted 

 by systematists is comparatively unintelligible, and often 

 only confusing. That based upon the localities and cha- 

 racteristic soils which the different species inhabit, being 

 at first sight much the more simple, is the one adopted. 

 Accordingly, we find chapters devoted to the shells found 

 on the London Clay, others on chalk soils, &c. ; the less 

 common species, from whatever soil, being described in 

 proximity to their better known and nearest allies. Several 

 carefully-drawn coloured plates of the species described 

 greatly facilitate the identification of each. A useful 

 appendix also is a list of the local catalogues of the native 

 land and freshwater mollusca, with the assistance of 

 which the study, commenced in the work itself, can be 



