Jury 20, 1899] 
NATURE 
267 
after the period of the Renaissance. Our columns have 
from time to time borne witness to his energy and to the 
merit of his selections. The present volume constitutes 
the twelfth of the series, and in matter of interest is not 
one whit behind any of its predecessors ; while the beauty 
and fidelity of the facsimile reproductions will be ac- 
knowledged on all hands. In a short preface, Prof. 
Hellmann sketches the growth of the popularity of 
treatises on weather prediction, which circulated in 
great numbers before the close of the fifteenth century, 
whether in the form of almanacs or works of even greater 
pretension. The substitution of the language of the 
country for the learned Latin, which was in more general 
use prior to 1470, gave a great stimulus to the circulation, 
and on the continent of Europe these pamphlets and 
broadsheets won for themselves a warm welcome. Of 
the remains of this large harvest which have come down 
to us, Prof. Hellmann offers some typical selections, accu- 
rately reproduced as they circulated from hand to hand 
among various nationalities. Italy seems to have been 
earliest in the field to minister to the popular longing for 
this kind of literature, but later had to give way to 
German perseverance, which has won for itself the 
doubtful reputation of producing the greatest number of 
these almanacs. Prof. Hellmann has already given a 
catalogue of 600 distinct publications, but later study 
has made him acquainted with many more, and he now 
places the number at not less than 750. England and 
France, judged by the number of examples that have 
been preserved, do not seem to have exhibited anything 
like the same eagerness for the possession of this kind of 
writing which Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands ex- 
hibited. But specimens of all these various productions, 
graduated in point of time throughout the sixteenth 
century, are now made accessible to the student. Eng- 
land is represented by “ An Almanacke and Prognostic- 
ation” for 1555, by A. Aksham, priest and physician, 
which in the main outline differs but little from much 
earlier productions. An excellent example, dated 1506, 
due to the fancy of Leonardo de Richi, is presented in 
facsimile. Asa rule it may be said that these various 
prophecies and indications begin with a dedication to 
some notability, then follow predictions relating to fruit- 
fulness, conditions of health, wars and peace, in which is 
prefigured the fate of nobles and States, and towns and 
countries, and finally the times of moon changes are 
added, a knowledge of which is not only necessary for 
predicting the weather, but indicate the proper times for 
blood-letting and surgical operations. A modest section 
suffices for indicating the variations of the weather. We 
may quote an example from the Prognosticon of Julian 
de Blanchi which relates to October : “ October ventosus 
et in eo aquae et tonitrua apparebunt, et dies dispositi 
ad aliquam aeris alterationem erunt iii., v., vii., xiii., xx., 
XXli., XXVi., XXXi.” 
The second volume quoted above refers mainly to an 
inquiry into the climate of Peru, but possesses a feature of 
distinct interest, to which we shall refer later. Peru has 
been roughly but conveniently divided into three regions, 
marked by the peculiarities of coast, mountain and 
forest climate. More particularly in two of thése different 
localities, the enterprise of Prof. Pickering has estab- 
lished fully equipped meteorological observatories, and 
NO. 1551, VOL. 60] 
the present volume contains the discussion of the mea- 
sures made at these stations between 1888-90. Mollendo, 
nearest the coast, is situated on the narrow strip of rock 
and sand which marks the abrupt rise of the continent 
from the waters of the Pacific. Chosica, further inland, is 
about twenty-five miles north-east of Lima. Here the 
climatic conditions fall midway between those of coast 
and mountain; forthe land rises gradually from the 
ocean in successive ranges, each higher than that pre- 
ceding it. The station itself stands on the summit of a 
conical mountain some 7000 feet high. Vincocaya and 
Puno, the two remaining stations in actual working 
order, are distinctly of the mountains. The former is. 
near the crest of the Western Cordillera, on a desolate 
plateau nearly 15,000 feet in elevation. Puno is on the 
western shore of Lake Titicaca, and is typical of the 
great plateau which lies between the Western Cordillera 
and the Bolivian Andes. A few observations were also 
made at Pampa Central, near the central western part of 
the great desert of Atacama. Prof. Pickering describes 
this region as possibly the most barren on the earth. 
Not even a cactus breaks the monotony of the view near 
this town. The ground is rich in nitrates and other 
salts of immense commercial value ; but the absence of 
rain on a soil of this character makes the region abso- 
lutely barren. In districts so uninviting and remote 
from the conveniences of civilisation, observers are found 
who, often without any hope of pecuniary reward, devote 
themselves to the maintenance of a continuous meteoro- 
logical record. Self-registering apparatus is sometimes 
used, but the monotonous registration of the amount and 
character of cloud and similar data which go to decide 
the climate of a country, can only be secured by regular 
personal supervision; and though Prof. Pickering is. 
obliged to reject some of the observations, owing to a 
suspicion of error, we think he is to be congratulated on 
securing an amount of co-operation which could hardly 
be anticipated in so inhospitable a country. 
But the feature of special interest, and one that gives 
to the volume something of the charm that attaches to a 
work on travel, is the description of the establishment of 
two meteorological observatories near the summit of the 
lofty El Misti, a mountain which dominates the city of 
Arequipa, and from its symmetry, height and proximity 
constitutes the most imposing feature in the range of 
mountains that nearly encircles that town. It goes. 
without saying that the approach to the summit is 
attended with great difficulties ; but, rising as it does to 
a height of some 20,000 feet, or about 12,000 feet above 
the elevated plateau on which Arequipa stands, this. 
truncated cone offers advantages to the meteorologist 
intent on studying the behaviour of the atmosphere at 
considerable elevations not less than the clear skies of 
Arequipa present to the practical astronomer. But only 
the most energetic would suggest to themselves the pos- 
sibility of pursuing meteorological observations in a spot 
so inaccessible. Prof. Bailey gives us some account of 
earlier attempts, made at rare intervals, to reach the top 
of this venerated peak, some undertaken for the benefit 
of science, some from curiosity, but all, whether suc-~ 
cessful or not, accompanied with considerable danger 
and fatigue. Yet an observatory to be useful must 
be regularly and systematically visited. A tolerably 
