August 14, 1879] 



NATURE 



359 



few will object ; but the possibility of applying them in 

 the present state of science is, and probably will be, 

 fiercely contested ; and it may be justly urged that the 

 descriptions in the works of the masters he alludes to, 

 would not, in many cases, have been recognisable had the 

 types not been in existence, or had it not been for the 

 beautiful iconographic works of those authors whom he 

 somewhat derogatively terms "simply collectors." 



Turning to the purely systematic arrangement of the 

 author, we find the Lepidoptera divided into Rhopalocera 

 and Heteroccra, or into Diiirna, Crepuscularia, Noclurna, 

 and Microlepidoptera. This is broad grouping, and we 

 shall be curious to see, in a future volume, how it is 

 proposed to get over the difficulties of the last-named. 

 On some points of minor arrangement the author's views 

 will be regarded as rank heresy by most entomologists of 

 the present day ; and the most notable of these are the 

 positions assigned to those anomalous groups known as 

 the Castniada and Uraniadce, which are boldly united 

 with the Rhopalocera, as groups 10 and 1 1 of that division, 

 in opposition to the ideas of almost every one, and notably 

 to those of Boisduval and Westwood (the latter author' s 

 recent memoir on the genus Castnia, and others, in the 

 Trans. Linn. Soc, ser. 2, Zoology, vol. i., 1877, is alluded 

 to in the text attached to the plates). It is scarcely to be 

 expected that the reasons given for this course will be 

 found convincing to the majority ; could it be so, the 

 arrangement would be hailed with satisfaction by those 

 numerous collectors who, confining themselves to "butter- 

 flies" only, are now debarred from adding to their stores 

 some of the most beautiful insects that exist. The 

 Crepusculari'a are divided into SphiiigidiE and Scsiadcej 

 the Zyganidce are not represented in the author's faun- 

 istic region, but the Glaiicopida, often associated with 

 them, are transferred to the Boinbycoides, and head that 

 section. Many other points might be alluded to in which 

 the author departs from common practice in systematic 

 views, but it is only fair to him to state that, in all cases, 

 he gives the fullest reasons for adopting the course, how- 

 ever insufficient they may appear to others ; but this 

 notice has already become too lengthy, and they must be left 

 to the discretion 6f specialists, all of whom must of neces- 

 sity possess the work. An inconsiderable number of new 

 species are described. 



The plates (only an uncoloured copy of the atlas is 

 before us) are admirably executed, the drawings having 

 been made by the author himself, and lithographed at 

 Berlin, a course which has added greatly to their value, 

 owing to the present impossibility of finding sufficiently 

 skilled engravers in Buenos Ayres ; at the same time it 

 has naturally caused delay. The value attached to the 

 beautiful representations of the transformations of many 

 species, cannot be too highly estimated, and the explana- 

 tory text is very ample, containing also new matter, not 

 appearing in the body of the work. R. McLachlan 



MODERN METEOROLOGY 

 Modern Meteorology. A Series 0/ Six Lectures Delivered 

 under the Auspices of the Meteorological Society in 

 1878. (London: Edward Stanford, 1879.) 



THE publication of " The Origin of Species " and the 

 introduction of the spectroscope as an implement 

 of research, have not wrought perhaps a greater revolu- 



tion in the biological and physical sciences than has the 

 invention of weather charts in the younger science of 

 meteorology. One has only to look back a quarter of a 

 century at the writings of meteorologists to see the 

 radical change which has been brought about, not merely 

 as regards the nomenclature of the science but even as 

 regards the standpoint from which the whole phenomena 

 of atmospheric movements are looked at. It was to 

 diffuse more generally a knowledge of this change that 

 the Council of the Meteorological Society arranged the 

 delivery of these six lectures, which on the whole faith- 

 fully portray to the reader the present state of meteorology 

 in its outstanding features. 



From its important bearing on the future of meteorology 

 in the British Islands, we note with great satisfaction the 

 remark in the lecture on "Air Temperature" that the 

 same pattern of thermometer box, viz., that known as the 

 Stevenson, has been adopted at the stations of both 

 the Enghsh and Scottish Meteorological Societies, to 

 which may be added the stations of the Meteorological 

 Office ; and we heartily endorse the opinion expressed by 

 the lecturer, Mr. J. Knox Laughton, that on such a vital 

 subject as the observation of the temperature, absolute 

 uniformity of pattern which is secured by the adoption of 

 Stevenson's box, is better even than Utopian excellence. 



The lecture by Mr. Strachan on the "Barometer and 

 its Uses" is characterised by a full and exact knowledge 

 of the instrument and its history, and a correct estima- 

 tion of the present state of the problems relating to atmo- 

 spheric, pressure with which he has occasion to deal. 

 His examination, for instance, of various theories which 

 have been broached in explanation'^of the diurnal range 

 of the barometer is acute and satisfactory, and from that 

 examination he shows that a hypothesis yet remains to be 

 framed which shall account for the diurnal oscillations of 

 the barometer. The truth is, none who have yet attempted 

 to account for the diurnal barometric oscillations — one of 

 the widest spread and constant of terrestrial phenomena — 

 have had before them sufficiently the facts of obser\'ation 

 such as might indicate, with the requisite fulness of 

 detail, the influence of geographical position on the 

 problem which it is sought to solve. 



Mr. Strachan throws out incidentally a valuable hint 

 regarding the forecasts of our European weather which 

 are wired from America. He says (p. 95) : — 



" It is worth while inquiring how our American friends 

 manage this business. They are not very willing to show 

 their hands, as the saying is. However, we may surmise 

 how it is done. They have active agents who make 

 extracts of the logs of all the steamers directly they arrive 

 in New York, and by means of these extracts they can 

 follow up all the storms which occur in our parallels. 

 Thus it may often happen that information of storms is 

 obtained by the Herald before they have had time to 

 reach western Europe. The Herald at once flashes the 

 news by telegraph. We get the telegram surely and 

 speedily and the storm, if it does not vanish in the 

 meantime, shortly afterward." 



Whether this be the practice of the expert of the Neiu 

 York Herald or not, there cannot be a doubt that we 

 have here an indication of the way in which substantial 

 advance may be made in our system of weather forecast- 

 ing, viz., by some central authority in America at once 

 receiving by telegraph extracts from the logs of all vessels 



