484 



NATURE 



[December 9, 1920 



the probable migrations irom northern Melanesia 

 which have modified the northern coastal cultures. 

 These have come on the top of Papuan cultures, the 

 more striking features of which have probably been 

 due to earlier cultural drifts from Indonesia. At 

 present it is only possible to state some of the 

 problems and to hazard conjectures as to their solu- 



tion. Very much work remains to be done before 

 the history of this fascinatini^ islan<l can be un- 

 ravelled. 



At the conclusion of the addr( -^ ilic lluxliy 

 memorial medal was presented to the lecturer by Sir 

 Everarti ira Thurn, the president of the Royal .\nthro- 

 pological Institute. 



International Weather Telegraphy. 



THE International Commission for Weather Tele- 

 graphy, appointed at the general Meteorological 

 Conference at Paris in October, 1919, met at the Air 

 Ministry during the week November 22-27. The 

 delegates were welcomed at the first meeting on 

 Monday, November 22, by Major-Gen. Sir F. H. 

 Sykes, ' Controller-General of Civil Aviation, who 

 emphasised the special need for international agree- 

 ment in meteorology because riations were more 

 interdependent in respect of that science than of any 

 other. 



During the meeting the Commission came to an 

 agreement upon the codes for the transmission of 

 surface observations and upper-air observations in 

 land messages and for a new figure code for the 

 transmission of reports from ships at sea. 



It also agreed upon a time-table for the issue l»y 

 radio-telegraphy of data messages for the preparation 

 of synoptic charts and upon the distribution of 

 stations in Europe for the issue from the Eiffel Tower 

 of collective data messages for the whole European 

 riseau. 



The principal changes in the new code are : 



(o) The number of figures for reporting barometric 

 tendency is reduced from two to one, and the unit 

 for barometric tendency is standardised as the half- 

 millibar per three hours, or, for countries using the 

 millimetre scale, the half-millimetre per three hours. 



(b) A two-figure code for reporting the weather 

 takes the place of the old single-figure code, and 

 permits the intensity and character of the precipitation 

 to be reported. 



(c) Provision is made for reporting visibility up 

 to 30 km. according to a graduated scale. 



(d) One figure is allotted to reports of humidity 

 which will be given to the nearest 10 per cent. 



Prior to 191 1 the code for international messages 

 provided for reports of the temperature of the wet 

 bulb as well as of that of the dry bulb. The 

 temperature of the wet bulb was omitted after the 

 introtiuction of barometric tendency, and thereafter no 

 information about humidity was included in the 

 messages. The new conditions, which permit of the 

 international exchange of the full report for i p.m. 

 and 6 p.m., and for the inclusion of humidity in the 

 upper air for reports of surface humidity, should 

 prove of considerable value. 



(e) One five-figure group is allotted to reports of 

 the form, amount, and height above ground of the 

 clouds. It may be noted that the height of the clouds 

 above ground and the visibilitv are at present the 

 two elements of the greatest importance to aviation. 



(/) Provision is made for reporting twice a day the 

 hour of commencement of rainfall. This has been 

 proved to be of great value by actual trial in Scan- 

 dinavia, and it is anticipated that it will ultimately 

 be one of the most important data in the preparation 

 of forecasts for agriculture. 



(^) A special group of five figures is allotted to a 

 selection of stations in each country for the purpose 

 of reporting as exactly as possible the direction and 

 relative speed obtained by nephoscopic observations 

 of clouds. 



(h) Three special groups are allotted to selected 



NO. 2667, VOL. 106] 



stations in each country for reporting the direction 

 and speed of the upper wind as determined by ob- 

 servations with pilot-balloons, shell-bursts, Uiie- 

 balloons, and other methods. 



(i) Ten groups as a maximum have been allotted to 

 one, two, or three stations in each country where 

 facilities are available for obtaining the temperature 

 and humidity of the upper air to great altitudes by 

 means of aeroplanes or kite-balloons. 



In connection with the observations of the upper 

 air, the Commission was interested to learn from 

 Prof, de Quervain of the proposal to establish a 

 station in Switzerland at an altitude of 3500 metres, 

 from which barometric observations would be of the 

 highest value in the construction of charts for that 

 level. 



The code adopted for the reports by wireless tele- 

 graphy from ships at sea provides for the same 

 information as that which is given in the messages 

 on land with the omission of barometric tendency, 

 relative humidity, and the height of clouds, k new- 

 feature is the introduction of the method of checking 

 the reports already used in the Meteorological Service 

 of India. The necessity for some system of this 

 kind was emphasised at the Meteorological Confer- 

 ence at Innsbruck in J905 during a discussion on the 

 possibility of obtaining wireless messages from the 

 Atlantic. The new code provides a simple and prac- 

 tical method for discovering any error which exists 

 and for correcting it. 

 j The Commission learned with much interest that 

 meteorological observations w-ere being made this 

 winter on behalf of the Norwegian Institute in the 

 Island of Jan Mayen, which is situated about 

 600 miles north-east of Iceland; and that there was a 

 prospect in the not distant future of obtaining 

 meteorological observations from Greenland by radio- 

 telegraphy. 



The hard work of the business meetings of the 

 Commission was relieved by a number of social 

 gatherings. On November 22 Sir Napier and Lady 

 Shaw gave a reception to the delegates at 10 Moreton 

 Gardens, S.VV. On the afternoon of November 24 

 a visit was paid by the delegates to Croydon Aero- 

 drome, and an opportunity afforded them of 

 seeing the meteorological and wireless arrangements 

 necessary at the terminus of air routes. On 

 November 25 the delegates were entertained to 

 luncheon at the Carlton Hotel by his Majesty's 

 Government, w-hen the Marquess of Londonderry, 



'• Under-Secretary of State for -Mr, referred in a 

 characteristic speech to the achievements of the dele- 

 gates, some of whom had come from countries so 



i widelv separated, both by distance and by climate, 



I as Java and Iceland. On the evening of Novem- 

 ber 26 the Maharaj Rana of Jhalawar gave a dinner 

 in honour of the delegates ; they were one and_ all 



; delighted with the informal hospitality of his High- 

 ness, who had assisted at the last meeting of the 

 Commission in 1912 and had maintained his interest 

 in meteorology, especially British meteorology, which 



I had made notable advances under the direction of Sir 



I Napier Shaw, the president of the International 



' Meteorological Committee. 



