380 



DISCOMCUY 



Harvard man and the sheep ir» the pen, was moving too 

 quickly to be conveniently counted. 



In the Knipirc at the present time there arc nearly 

 sixty properly-constituted universities. Nineteen of these 

 are in Canada, nine in India, si.x in Australia, three in 

 South Africa, and one each in New Zealand, Malta, and 

 I long- Kong. At home there are eighteen, excluding the 

 unattached University Colleges : three being in Ireland, 

 four in Scotland, and eleven in England and Wales. The 

 days wlien Society and the fashionable press could admit 

 the existence of Oxford, Cambridge, and Trinity College, 

 Dublin, only arc now happily over for ever. Most of the 

 home universities of to-day are better in every way than 

 were these fifty years ago— more alive, better equipped, 

 more scientific in spirit, more humane in outlook. One 

 may safely divide the eighteen by two, and talk now of 

 the first nine universities of this country instead of the 

 first (or only) three of 1870. 



The university man will find the lists of professors and 

 lecturers at the different universities the most frequently 

 consulted part of the book. If not a Who's Who, it is 

 at least a Who's Where of the brotherhood. It is hoped 

 that the demand for this book may make possible a new 

 edition annually, so that these valuable lists may be kept 

 as up-to-date as possible. 



.\ special feature of the present edition is the appendix, 

 giving an account of war activities other than combatant 

 which the home universities did. " So numerous and 

 varied have these been, that it is impossible in looking 

 back to picture the war as progressing towards a successful 

 issue without them." An account is given also of the 

 contribution to the forces of the universities overseas. A 

 really excellent handbook. P. K. F. 



Meteorology. By R. G. K. Lempfekt, M.A., C.B.H. 

 (Methuen & Co., 7s. bd. net.) 



One surmises that, in addition to those who owe an 

 initial acquaintance with the broad principles of modern 

 meteorology to the perusal of Mr. Lcmpfert's Weather 

 Seience (a brief but admirably clear outline of the subject), 

 many who are naturally curious concerning the processes 

 operating in the earth's atmosphere and manifesting 

 themselves in weather phenomena will welcome this, the 

 author's latest work. 



Details of observational routine have been almost 

 entirely omitted, and the author has concentrated upon 

 a presentation of the main facts which have emerged, 

 especially during the past two decades, as the consequence 

 of organised exploration of the atmosphere hy means of 

 kites and balloons carrying autographic instruments. 

 The information thus rendered available has effected a 

 rapid, yet sound, development of the conceptions of 

 atmospheric structure and circulation. 



The early chapters are devoted to a consideration of 

 the Weather Map (an increasingly powerful instrument 

 in the hands of the forecaster in these days of radio- 

 communication), an adequate treatment of wind, pressure, 

 temperature, and the relation of wind to the distribution 

 of pressure, a relation upon which depends so much of 

 the superstructure of meteorological theory. 



A discussion of the ascertained behaviour of surface 

 air currents and a study of " line squalls " (those abrupt 

 phenomena so disconcerting, even if not fraught with 

 actual peril, to aircraft) conclude with a description of 

 the thought-provoking views on the structure of moving 

 cyclones advanced last year by Bjerknes, who, extending 

 the scope of his original investigation, has formed the 

 opinion that at least in temperate latitudes great weather 

 changes are due to the interaction in a definite way 

 between phalanxes of air from polar and equatorial 

 regions. 



But we feel that it is the latter half of the volume which 

 will appeal most powerfully to those who axe desirous of 

 acquiring an insight into the present state of knowledge 

 concerning parts of the earth's atmosphere which in 

 recent years have become accessible to aviators, and, 

 obscrvationally, to meteorologists, by means of pilot and 

 registering balloons. 



The thermal processes of the atmosphere, the variation 

 of wind with height, the relations between atmospheric 

 circulation, temperature, and pressure in the upper levels, 

 are dealt with in an illuminating way ; while the author's 

 exposition of the facts and theories concerning the 

 stratosphere (the mysterious upper portion of the at- 

 mosphere), the deeper differences between anticjxloncs 

 and cyclones, and the domination of the surface con- 

 ditions by those which obtain at a certain high level, 

 cannot fail to fascinate the reader. 



The value of the book is enhanced by the incorporation 

 of accovmts of the most recent work in various branches 

 of the subject. In addition to the investigation of 

 Bjerknes, mention is made of G. I. Taylor's important 

 theory of eddy-motion, with its several applications to 

 phenomena associated with the surface layers of the 

 atmosphere ; and of the lately published determina- 

 tion of atmospheric composition at great heights by S. 

 Chapman and E. A. Milne, who conclude that at 

 heights above seventy-five miles the chief constituent is 

 probably helium and not hydrogen, as has been usually 

 believed. 



There is frequent mention of the mutual relation and 

 interaction between the war and meteorologj'. As a 

 case in point, the author, after demonstrating how, from 

 a knowledge of wind direction and speed in the upper 

 levels, the distribution of pressure and temperature may 

 be inferred, proceeds to deduce the conditions which gave 

 rise to the unexpectedly strong northerly winds at heights 

 above 10,000 feet on October 19, 191 7, an occasion which 

 proved catastrophic to a fleet of Zeppelin airships, which, 

 after raiding S.E. England, was carried far to the south 

 and scattered over Erancc. 



Whilst remembering that a work on meteorology must 

 be inevitably of somewhat limited scope if it is to be 

 kept within moderate dimensions, one has to confess to 

 some slight disappointment that it was considered im- 

 possible or inadvisable to incorporate in the volume under 

 notice a fuller treatment of physical processes associated 

 with the formation of the various cloud forms, the inter- 

 esting but complicated phenomena of thunderstorms, 

 and, finally, a presentation of the information at present 



