396 



NATURE 



[June 2, 1910 



the staff of the Geological Survey of Great Britain. 

 His chief was Sir Henry de la Beche ; his first in- 

 structor in the field was J. Beete Jukes; and during 

 the next fifty years he became acquainted with all 

 the prominent geologists in our islands. His principal 

 official work was in connection with the Irish branch 

 of the Survey, of which he became director in 1869. 

 Some of the controversies of the next twenty years 

 may have been "strenuous"; but Dr. Hull gives only 

 a bare hint of this. In a kindly spirit he dwells on 

 the many friends he made, a large number of whom 

 are fortunately still amongst us. There is an engag- 

 ing naivetd about some of his anecdotes, as when he 

 confesses (p. 27) that he was shocked to find that one 

 of these friends was a Liberal ; or when he mentions 

 that he lectured on a biblical subject with an arch- 

 bishop in the chair. But his reminiscences of scien- 

 tific societies in Dublin will come home to all those 

 who remember the old friendly gatherings, which 

 have already grown a shade more formal, partly 

 through the spread of suburban homes, and partly 

 through the development of more "strenuous" and 

 specialised activities. 



Dr. Hull's geological expedition to Arabia Petraea 

 and Palestine has been described elsewhere, and is 

 here only lightly touched on. An abstract is given 

 of his work on the submerged valleys of the European 

 plateau (p. 105) ; but we miss a mention of the fact 

 that, under his direction, the geological survev of 

 Ireland was completed on the one-inch scale before 

 his retirement in 1890, every sheet being accompanied, 

 as Jukes had planned, by a descriptive memoir. 

 These geological memoirs may vary a good deal in 

 their degree of completeness, but their publication 

 was very systematically carried on. .We probablv 

 owe to Dr. Hull the delicate and artistic colouring 

 of the northern sheets of the Irish Survey, which 

 made them absolutely without rivals, until stronger 

 tints were used in recent years. In spite of the 

 evidence of the present reminiscences, it is hard to 

 iv,alise tiiat Dr. Hull's official career ended, after 

 full years of service, close on twenty years ago. A 

 good portrait and a bibliography accompany the 

 volume. 

 Catalogue of Bronzes, q>-c., in Field Museum of 



Natural History. Reproduced from Originals in 



the National Museum of Naples. By Prof. F. B. 



Tarbell. (Chicago : Field Museum of Natural 



History, 1909.) 

 This publication constitutes a fascicle of the seventh 

 volume of the anthropological series of the Field 

 Museum of Natural History, Chicago. The objects 

 described in this " Catalogue " are reproductions in 

 bronze of originals in the National Museum of Naples 

 from the Campanian cities buried by the eruption of 

 Vesuvius in 79 a.d. With a few exceptions " these 

 objects constitute a fairly representative selection 

 from among the bronze utensils, instruments, and 

 articles of furniture in the great Neapolitan collection ; 

 and, while not exact in every particular, they do, 

 nevertheless, give a fairly correct idea of the 

 originals." As no complete and scientific account of 

 the Naples bronzes "has ever been issued, it has 

 seemed worth while to prepare a somewhat detailed 

 catalogue, with illustrations, of these reproductions." 

 The catalogue enumerates and describes with con- 

 siderable detail soine 300 different objects, of which 

 seventeen are designated "pre-Roman." and illustrates 

 almost the entire series in 117 excellent plates. To 

 archaeological students and such other Americans as 

 may have no opporunity of visiting Naples, these 

 reproductions will be almost as valuable as the 

 originals, and from theni the museum will receive 

 grateful acknowledgment, both for having had the 



NO. 2 I 18, VOL, 83] 



reproductions made and for this excellent account of 

 them, of which European students will not fail to 

 appreciate the value when in face of the original 

 collection in Naples. 



The Building and Care of the Body. An Elenientarv 

 Text-book in Practical Physiology and Hygiene. 

 By Columbus N. Millard. Pp. x + 235. (New York: 

 The Macmillan Company, 19 10.) Price 2s. 6d. 

 As Mr. Millard says in his preface, teaching pupils 

 how to develop strong, healthy bodies should be one 

 of the chief aims of our schools. One of the objects 

 of his book is to convince children that certain prac- 

 tices are likely to make them happier and more com- 

 fortable, abler in play and work, and so lead them 

 to regard the study of the laws of health as worth 

 while. The author has already made a favourable 

 impression among teachers in this country by his 

 earlier book, "The Wonderful House that Jack Has," 

 and the present volume is likely to prove useful, since 

 it provides brightly written and well-illustrated lessons 

 on the simple facts of human physiology and hygiene. 



The English Lakes. Described by A. G. Bradley. 



Canterbury. Described by Canon Danks. Oxford, 



Described by F. D. How. All pictured by E. W. 



Haslehurst. Each pp. 56. (London : Blackie and 



Son, Ltd., 1910.) Price 2s. net each. 

 The first three volumes of a series designed to bring" 

 before readers the beauties of England are certainly 

 very attractive books. The text is interesting, touch- 

 ing lightly history, geography, archaeolog\", and any 

 other subject able to contribute facts or fancies likely 

 to arrest the attention. We imagine the volumes are 

 not intended to serve any serious purpose ; but though 

 unsuitable for guide-books, they will certainly become 

 favourites with lovers of the districts they severally 

 describe. 



LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. 



[The Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions 

 expressed by his correspondents. Neither can he undertake 

 to return, or to correspond with the writers of, rejected 

 manuscripts intended for this or any other part of Nature. 

 No notice is taken of anonymous communications.] 



The Temperature Conditions within Clouds. 



At the meeting of the British Association for the 

 Advancement of Science held in Winnipeg last August, a 

 paper was read before the Ph\'sics Section by Prof. A. 

 Lawrence Rotch, director of the Blue Hill Observatory,; 

 in which a rise of temperature was described as having 

 been recorded by a ballon-sonde meteorograph in passing 

 through a cloud. In the discussion which followed con- 

 siderable doubt was expressed as to the possibiHty of such- 

 a condition existing. That there was an increase in 

 temperature recorded by the meteorograph as it passed^ 

 upward through the cloud there can be no doubt (see 

 diagram in Meteorologische Zeitschrift, December, 1909, 

 p. 554). Dr. John Aitken, in Nature of November 18^ 

 1909, says that he sees no reason to question the truth of 

 the record, for he has on numerous occasions observed 

 similar increases of temperature while enveloped in a cloud 

 upon the summit of a mountain. He directs attention to' 

 the fact that great caution must be exercised in obtaining 

 temperatures under these conditions, for, on account of 

 the excessive radiation that occurs within the cloud, unless 

 the instrument is sufficiently insulated from the heat rays, 

 the thermogram will be vitiated. In the case of the ascent 

 referred to, the increase of temperature was not unreal, for 

 due precaution, in the form of an especially prepared 

 insulator, had been taken to eliminate the effects of radia-[ 

 tion, and the ventilation was sufficient. 



In order to determine the temperature conditions within 

 and about clouds for a large number of cases, an examina- 

 tion was made of the records obtained in the kite-flights j 



