528 



NATURE 



[December 23, 1920 



provoke much discussion ; facts are marshalled 

 in an imposing array to support it, and theoretical 

 synoptic charts are produced which are wonder- 

 fully similar to the charts based upon actual 

 observations. The pressure-waves are apparently 

 not sound-waves ; they are described as " true 

 pressure-waves traversing- the upper atmosphere 

 in the same way that water-waves travel across 

 the sea " — i.e. they are waves formed at a surface 

 of discontinuity. As the waves appear to be at 

 least 500 miles from crest to trough, there cannot 

 be very many of them — probably, in fact, not more 

 than one — in existence at a time, so that the com- 

 parison ought to be with one long wave in shallow 

 water {e.g. a tidal wave) rather than with "water- 

 waves travelling across the sea"; it appears 

 doubtful if it is possible at the surfaces of dis- 

 continuity, which certainly exist in the Antarctic, 

 to get waves 500 miles long travelling at forty 

 miles per hour, and having pressure amplitudes of 

 20 millibars at sea-level. The horizontal trans- 

 ference of a large mass of air naturally suggests 

 itself as an alternative explanation, but the adjust- 

 ment of the motion to the pressure gradient pre- 

 sents difficulties. 



In his discussion of the general circulation 

 Dr. Simpson arrives at conclusions agreeing in 

 some respects with Hobbs, and in others 

 with Meinardus. Broadly speaking, he makes 

 the whole continent an anticyclonic area sur- 

 rounded by a broad band of low pressure about 

 lat. 65; but at 10,000 ft. the plateau alone is 

 anticyclonic, while a very marked cyclone is 

 centred over the part of the Antarctic which is 

 near sea-level. The upper winds deduced from 

 cloud observations and from Erebus's smoke fit 

 in well with the scheme. 



The free atmosphere over the Antarctic had 

 never been explored before Dr. Simpson sent up 

 his ballons -sondes ; the results of this first attempt 

 are remarkably good, although the stratosphere 

 was not reached. Out of twenty-one ascents, 

 fourteen instruments were recovered, of which 

 twelve furnished good records; but three of them 

 referred to different times on one day, November 

 19, 191 1. In six cases of summer ascents the 

 temperature decreased steadily upwards at a rate 

 of about 6° C. per kilometre ; in four cases of 

 winter ascents temperature rose at the commence- 

 ment of the ascent, and began to fall only after 

 a height of one or , two kilometres had been 

 reached. The lowest temperature recorded in 

 these ascents was —46° C. { — 51° F.) at a height 

 of 6750 m. {22,000 ft.) on Christmas Day, 191 1. 

 The lowest temperature recorded on the Barrier 

 was -60° C. {-76° F.) on July 6, and this is the 

 NO. 2669, VOL. 106] 



lowest temperature recorded anywhere in the 

 Antarctic. 



The observations on atmospheric electricity led 

 to interesting conclusions on the effect of drift- 

 snow, which, however, could not be put to the 

 crucial test owing to Dr. Simpson's unexpected 

 recall to India. One is, indeed, forced to observe 

 that the Government of India was decidedly less 

 than generous throughout. It might well have lent 

 Dr. Simpson's services in such a glorious cause, 

 seeing that a proper knowledge of Antarctic 

 meteorology is vital to an understanding of those 

 great currents of the atmosphere to which mon- 

 soons belong; instead, it granted him "leave 

 without pay," and then recalled him in the middle 

 of the enterprise. 



The work is a notable contribution, not merely to 

 Antarctic meteorology, but also to meteorological 

 science ; it is an enduring monument to the great 

 leader of the expedition through whose foresight 

 and scientific spirit the enterprise was made pos- 

 sible. 



Imperial Mineral Resources. 



(i) Imperial Mineral Resources Bureau. The 

 Mineral Industry of the British Empire and 

 Foreign Countries. War Period. Arsenic. 

 Price 6d. net. Felspar. Price 6d. net. Chrome 

 Ore and Chromium. Price js. net. Fuller's 

 Earth. Price 6d. net. Magnesite. Price is. 3d. 

 net. (London : H.M. Stationery Office.) 

 (2) Tungsten Ores. By R. H. Rastall and W. H. 

 Wilcockson. (Imperial Institute : Monographs 

 on Mineral Resources, with Special Reference 

 to the British Empire.) Pp. ix4-8i. (London: 

 John Murray, 1920.) Price 35. 6d. net. 

 (i)'T^HE necessity for complete and accurate in- 

 1 formation about the mineral resources of 

 the British Empire has repeatedly been emphasised 

 in these columns and elsewhere. Even before the 

 war this need had become evident, and it was felt 

 to be a serious reflection upon British statisticians 

 that the most trustworthy source of such informa- 

 tion was to be found in an American publication. 

 During the war, the gravity of this deficiency 

 naturally became accentuated, and the formation 

 of the Imperial Mineral Resources Bureau has 

 been the result. This bureau has now been 

 organised, and is entering seriously upon its 

 labours, the result being made public in the form 

 of a succession of pamphlets, each dealing with 

 one particular mineral. Those hitherto issued 

 relate to minerals of relatively minor importance, 

 and include arsenic, felspar, chrome ore and 

 chromium, fuller's earth and magnesite. The 



