. 
4. 
hae — ‘ 
| January toh 1923] ‘ 

oe. 
‘we 
ae Our Bookshelf. 
_ Effects of Winds and of Barometric Pressures on the 
Great Lakes. By John F. Hayford. (Publication 
317). Pp. v+133+16 plates. (Washington : 
Carnegie Institution, 1922.) 2.75 dollars. 
~ Turs book records what is probably the most complete 
investigation yet made of the effect of winds and 
= 
r 
ft 
atmospheric pressure on the slope of the surface of 
great sheets of water. It deals with Lakes Erie and 
Michigan, which are large and of fairly irregular 
outline and bed-contour, and are situated in a region 
where the meteorological conditions are well observed. 
Continuous records of water-level are afforded by 
several gauges on each lake, designed to smooth out 
the local wave-fluctuations. Mr. Hayford has con- 
structed an elaborate theory connecting the daily 
change of level of the water surface, as revealed by 
each of these gauges, with the north and west com- 
ponents of barometric gradient on the current and 
preceding days; proportionality factors, varying 
with the station, are derived by the method of least 
wares from large numbers of observations. The 
_ winds, being more rapidly variable than the barometric 
Gxceape are considered from hour to hour; the 
ourly change of level at any gauge station is related 
to the hourly changes in the values of a certain function 
of the wind-velocity during the hour in question and 
the following hour; the said function is derived 
partly by theoretical reasoning. The numerical con- 
stants of the theory have been worked out in great 
detail, in order that the real changes of content of 
the lakes may be derived from the gauge-readings 
with sufficient accuracy to enable the evaporation 
from the surface to be estimated in varying circum- 
stances. 
- British Meteorological and Magnetic Year Book, 1920. 
Part III. Section 2. Geophysical Journal, 1920. 
(Air Ministry : Meteorological Office.) 11. 5s. 
Tus publication comprises the daily values of the 
meteorological and geophysical elements at three 
observatories of the Meteorological Office, namely, 
Kew Observatory, Richmond ; Valencia Observatory 
in Ireland ; and Eskdalemuir Observatory, Dumfries- 
“shire; and at the St. Louis Observatory in Jersey : 
daily values of solar radiation at South Kensington ; 
wind components at fixed hours at four anemograph 
Stations ; tabulations of occasional soundings of the 
‘upper air; and results of observations of cloud and 
aurora. The annual supplement contains upper air 
temperatures by means of soundings with registering 
balloons and aeroplane ascents, giving monthly and 
annual averages with averages for the period 1917- 
1920; notes on seismological work at Eskdalemuir 
Observatory ; the water-level recorder at Kew Observa- 
tory; and tables of monthly means of magnetic 
and electrical data for Eskdalemuir and Richmond 
respectively. ° 
The introduction to the volume gives all details 
and necessary references to the actual data here 
brought together, following, in most cases, the arrange- 
ment of former years. It is to be noted that the 
soundings with pilot balloons and temperature deter- 
NO. 2776, VOL. 111] 
NATURE 
45 
minations by means of aeroplanes will be discontinued, 
as these data now appear in the Daily Weather report. 
The volume, like its predecessors, forms a valuable 
contribution to the study of the meteorological and 
geophysical elements, and the homogeneous nature 
of the data will be thoroughly appreciated by those 
who utilise the information. 
The British Journal Photographic Almanac and Photo- 
grapher’s Daily Companion, 1923. Edited by 
George E. Brown. Sixty-second issue. Pp. 808. 
(London: H. Greenwood and Co., Ltd., 1922.) 
Paper, 2s. net ; Cloth, 3s. net. 
Ir is a matter for congratulation that the abate- 
ment in the cost of printing papers has allowed of the 
use of paper of a quality superior to that which had 
to be employed for some of the preceding volumes of the 
Almanac. The arrangement of the matter is the same as 
heretofore. The Editor takes for the subject of his 
special article ‘‘ What Camera and Lens to have,” and 
hopes that those who are asked for advice on the subject 
will refer their questioners to it, and so provide a full 
answer and save their own time. Besides the calendar, 
which gives the public holidays in more than thirty 
different countries, there is a directory of Photographic 
Societies and other bodies, giving much information 
concerning each. The Epitome of Progress is the 
largest section, and the items are well classified and 
indexed. The usual statistical matter, photographic 
formule, and tables of all sorts, complete a most 
useful, practical and up-to-date reference book. 
Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society. New Series, 
Vol. 22: Containing the Papers read before the 
Society during the Forty-third Session, 1921-1922. 
Pp. ii+242. (London: Williams and Norgate, 
1922.) 25s. net. 
Tue volume contains the papers of the Session 1921- 
1922, abstracts of which have appeared from time to 
time in our Society notices. It reflects the great 
interest aroused by the discussion of relativity problems. 
Einstein’s theory is the subject of a symposium to 
which Prof. Wildon Carr, Prof. T. P. Nunn, Prof. 
‘A. N. Whitehead, and Dr. Wrinch contribute. We may 
also direct attention to two papers, one by Prof. 
Johnstone on “ The Limitations of a Knowledge of 
Nature,” and one by Mr. Tavani on “ Physical Space 
and Hyperspaces,” both of which are of special scientific 
interest. 
The Supremacy of Spirit. By C. A. Richardson. Pp. 
viii+159. (London: Kegan Paul and Co., Ltd., 
1922.) 55. net. 
Mr. RicHARDSON in this short volume sets forth, in 
clear and concise terms, the philosophical theory which 
he expounded in his “ Spiritual Pluralism ” in order to 
show its relation to the new psychology and its bearing 
on the somewhat dubious methods and even more 
elusive facts of psychical research. He states the case 
for psychical research, in its claim to be a purely 
scientific investigation, as well as it can be stated, but 
the argument is too brief to deal at all adequately with 
the scientific objections, those which are completely 
free from prejudice. 
