April 12, 1900] 



NA TURE 



561 



I 



increasing the severity of their duties. To the latter, be- 

 cause his object is, among others, to turn the numerous 

 meteorological observations that are made at many high 

 schools to practical account, to clothe the dry bones of 

 mere instrumental readings with an intelligent purpose, 

 and to infuse a new and sustained interest into a 

 mechanical routine. Nothing, we imagine, can be more 

 wearisome than the continual record of temperature and 

 pressure and other data of which no definite use is made. 

 The educational value of such a practice must be very 

 slight, and Mr. Ward has recognised the necessity of im- 

 proving this mechanical record, and, at the same time, 

 of investing the ordinary class teaching with a definite 

 practical purpose. He has taken both pupils and teachers 

 by the hand in a way that should produce most en- 

 couraging results. Doubtless many others have perceived 

 defects in the methods of teaching meteorology, but it is Mr. 

 Ward's merit that he has known how to apply a practical 

 remedy. He, first of all, takes his pupils without instru- 

 ments, and shows how much can be done by the exercise 

 of ordinary intelligence and trained organised powers of 

 observation. Many a teacher, we imagine, when he sees 

 the numerous questions which Mr. Ward puts, and to 

 which intelligent answers can be given by simple, if 

 acute, observation, will take shame to himself that he has 

 not adopted similar, and even extended, methods for in- 

 fusing life and interest into the study of a science that is 

 too often regarded as dull and insipid. Here is a 

 specimen, taken at random, of what a pupil is expected to 

 acquire from his own observations. 



" Wind and Precipitation. Are any particular wind 

 directions more likely than others to give us rain or 

 snow ? Are these the same winds as those which give us 

 the most cloudiness? What winds are they? Has the 

 velocity of the wind any relation to the rain or snow- 

 storm ? Does the wind blow harder, before, during, or 

 after the rain or snow ? What changes of wind direction 

 have you noted, before, during, or after any storm ? Have 

 you noticed these same changes in other storms ? Are 

 they so common in our storms that you can make a rule 

 as to these changes ? " 



None of these questions, it is to be observed, are 

 answered. The answers are to be derived from the 

 student's own notes, which he is shown how to make, and 

 of which he is expected to keep a tabulated record. 



Mr. Ward wisely keeps his description of instruments 

 within very moderate bounds ; such information is to be 

 found elsewhere, and the object here is rather to induce 

 the student to discover for himself the most important 

 facts in weather conditions, and to proceed to the study 

 of climate and the possibility of weather prediction. 

 With the latter view, means are provided for construct- 

 mg synoptic weather maps over the area of the United 

 States ; and the lessons to be learnt from the study of 

 these maps are brought out by a series of pertinent 

 questions in the manner already illustrated. After 

 familiarity with the construction of weather maps and 

 the method of determining gradients and similar ele- 

 mentary points have been acquired, the pupil is led to 

 the study of the interrelations of the different weather 

 elements, and particularly of the forms, dimensions and 

 movements of cyclones and anti-cyclones, the main 

 features of whose characteristics the pupil is taught to 

 NO. 1589, VOL. 61] 



derive for himself from the acKial, and not specially 

 prepared, weather maps. 



A series of so-called problems in observational meteor- 

 ology is added, in which the same manner of teaching 

 is preserved. Questions connected with vertical gradients 

 in temperature, with humidity, clouds, &c., carefully 

 graduated according to the student's supposed progress 

 in the study of weather phenomena, are submitted for 

 his consideration, .the object being generally to discover 

 the explanation of observed facts. A few useful tables 

 are also given, and in an appendix are some useful hints 

 to teachers, which the author's experience suggests as 

 likely to be of assistance and, at the same time, explana- 

 tory of his own purpose. The plan of the book is based 

 on the recommendations in the Report on Geog raphy of 

 the Council of Ten, and is very intelligently pursued. 

 The author shows throughout the earnestness and the 

 capacity of a true teacher, and we hope that his book 

 and his methods of leaching will obtain a wide currency, 

 suggesting as they do a vast improvement on the train- 

 ing generally in vogue. There remains still a further 

 question, which the author does not broach, and on which 

 it is probably preferable to maintain a discreet silence. 

 How far is meteorology perfected as a science to warrant 

 its employment as an educational force, demanding the 

 exactness, and supplying the training, which the older 

 and more recognised means have hitherto supplied ? 



OUR BOOK SHELF. 

 Lectures on Some oj the Physical Properties of Soil. By 

 Robert Warington, M.A., F.R.S. Pp. xv -f 231. 

 (Oxford : Clarendon Press, 1900.) 



This is a subject of deep interest to the student, and 

 of no small practical importance to the farmer. As Mr. 

 Warington indicates, it is one that has not received a 

 great deal of experimental attention in this country, nor 

 does it usually form a separate subject for class-room 

 treatment. In England we have in the past depended 

 chiefly on the text-books of Fream and Munro, to which 

 may now be added some excellent American manuals, 

 notably that by King. These lectures by Warington 

 form a welcome addition to our literature, and they are 

 worthy of a larger audience than that which surrounded 

 the Sibthorpian chair. 



Two of the five chapters are concerned with the rela- 

 tionship of the soil to water. This is a matter which the 

 cultivator —by attention to tillage, cropping and manures 

 — can turn to good practical account. By draining, he 

 can get rid of excessive moisture, while by introducing 

 humus to a dry soil, and by the production and preser- 

 vation of a fine tilth, he can conserve moisture and 

 place it more fully at the disposal of plants. Farmers 

 and gardeners who read these lectures will learn that 

 there are other ways of providing crops with water than 

 by the use of the water-cart or the watering-pan. In 

 forestry, too, much may be done, by attention to cultural 

 measures, to place an increased supply of water at the 

 disposal of trees, and on these measures the success of 

 woods on dry ground largely depends. 



Possibly the chapter that deals with the movement of 

 salts in the soil is the one that will appeal most directly 

 to the farmer. Much of the success of manuring depends 

 on the suitable relationship of fertilisers to soil and 

 climate. Substances that are firmly held by the soil may 

 be used without fear of loss even on light soil and in a 

 district of large rainfall, whereas substances for which 

 soil has but little affinity must be applied with much 



