200 A TEXTBOOK OF OCEANOGRAPHY 



the publications of the Meteorological Office and the Hydro- 

 graphic Office at the Admiralty bear witness to this. 



The Meteorological Office publish a " Marine Observer's 

 Handbook," which gives a list of these publications. 



There is also a " Seaman's Handbook of Meteorology," a 

 companion to the barometer manual for the use of seamen, 

 which contains not only a description of the meteorological 

 instruments most commonly in use on shipboard, but also an 

 excellent chapter on icebergs and other forms of drifting ice. 



The North Atlantic is now divided up into one-degree 

 squares for indicating the position of ships sending weather 

 reports by radiotelegraphy. These messages are synchronised, 

 the time of despatch depending on the vessel's position in the 

 North Atlantic. The messages are received at the Meteoro- 

 logical Office in London the same evening, and are used as a 

 basis of the weather forecast for the following day. 



Textbooks. 



There is no suitable textbook in the English language on 

 the subject. The best introduction is that by Sir John Murray 

 in his book, "The Ocean," published by Williams and 

 Norgate in the Home University Library. 



Maury's " Physical Geography of the Sea and its 

 Meteorology," published by Sampson, Son and Co., tenth 

 edition, dated 1861, is a good book, but hopelessly out of date, 

 and therefore dangerous for beginners. It is of good historical 

 interest, since it contains the earliest maps with isothermal 

 lines for the ocean surface. Murray and Hjort's "Depths of 

 the Ocean " contains a good account of the conditions in the 

 North Atlantic, and is suitable for advanced students. 



Bibliographical Works. 



List of publications of the Department of Commerce 

 available for distribution. Washington, D.C., U.S.A. 

 Government Printing Office. See under "Coast and 

 Geodetic Survey." 



