720 

contributing to the knowledge of the cranium of this 
group, for with the exception of the type of Pano- 
plosaurus mivus, Lambe, only unsatisfactory fragments 
have hitherto been available. The author further 
directs attention to some features in the cranial 
structure of a specimen of Eoceratops from the same 
district, as well as to the first occurrence in the Belly 
River formation of a lacertian reptile, as evinced by 
the discovery of a dorsal vertebra bearing a striking 
resemblance in size and form to those of the genus 
Saniwa. 
METEOROLOGY OF THE GULF OF BoTHNniIA.—Several 
papers dealing with the meteorology of the Gulf of 
Bothnia and the northern part of Sweden have lately 
appeared. In ‘“ Str6m och Vindobservationer vid 
Fyrskeppen ’’ (Havsforsknings Institutets, No. 13, 
1922), Mr. G. Granqvist records. the wind direction 
and force at certain Finnish lightships, four in the 
Gulf of Finland and seven in the Gulf of Bothnia, 
during 1921. The records are of varying lengths of 
time, in most cases from June to November or 
December, but in two cases for January also. Observa- 
tions were taken three times daily. In Statens 
Meteorologisk-Hydrografiska Anstalt, i. No. 4 (Stock- 
holm, 1922), Dr. C. J. Ostman has a paper on “ Re- 
cherches sur les grands vents prés de la céte suédoise 
du Golfe de Botnie.’’ The observations deal with 
the winds above force 7 on the Beaufort scale in 
eleven lighthouses and lightships.. As a rule, the 
records are for the years 1907-1921, and cover the | 
twelve months.: The paper contains a discussion of 
- the direction and nature of the depressions which 
influence the Gulf. The meteorological observations | 
taken at the Swedish station at Abisko in Lapland 
during the year 1921 are published (Abisko Natur- 
vetenskapliga Station, Stockholm, 1923). The hourly 
data are given in extenso with the legends of the tables 
in both Swedish and French. They include records 
of the water temperature in Lake Tornetrask. 

RADIO IN RELATION TO WEATHER OBSERVATIONS. 
—wWeather reports by wireless telegraphy and by the | 
radiophone as received and disseminated in the 
United States from the beginning of this century to 
the present date are dealt with by Mr. E. B. Calvert 
of the U.S. Weather Bureau in the U.S. Monthly 
Weather Review for January. The history of the 
initiation and the development of the radio service | 
is full of interest, and is dealt with from the year 1895, 
when Marconi commenced his investigations in wire- 
less telegraphy, until the inauguration of radiophone | 
weather broadcasting through the United States in | 
February last. The Weather Bureau was the pioneer 
of all agencies of the U.S. Government in investiga- 
tions and experiments in wireless telegraphy. It is 
stated by the author that in his opinion meteorology 
will advance hand in hand with radio, and that there 
must be close and undisturbed contact between the 
agencies engaged in meteorological and radio activities. 
Meteorology is essentially an international science, 
and weather has no national allegiance. Weather 
conditions prevailing in one country to-day may 
affect another to-morrow, or perhaps a week hence. 
The author is very strongly impressed with the 
importance of exchange of meteorological reports 
between different countries and especially among the 
nations in the Northern Hemisphere, in which radio 
must play a large and important part. Daily weather 
forecasts and storm warnings for all interested in 
agriculture ashore and for all vessels afloat in the | 
open ocean and elsewhere have now become the 
common property of all. Mention is made of the 
forecasting demonstrated by the French training-ship | 
NO. 2795, VOL. II! | 

NATURE 
[May 26, 1923 
Jacques Cartier, which carries weather experts and 
disseminates and broadcasts weather forecasts daily 
in both English and French, aided by reports from 
shore stations and from ships within call. 
Atomic Rapit 1n CrystaLts®—In a short paper in 
the Proceedings of the U.S. National Academy of 
Sciences for February, Dr. R. W. G. Wyckoff discusses, 
with the aid of numerical data, the hypothesis that 
the atoms of each element are of a definite size, and 
that crystals are built up by their packing together. 
The calculation of the ‘‘ sphere of influence ”’ of atoms 
can now be made from four independent starting- 
points : from metals, from the diamond and divalent 
metal carbonates of the calcite group, from pyrites 
(FeS,), and with the aid of cesium dichloro-iodide 
(CsCl,I). The metals do not fit well into the scheme, 
calcite and related minerals present difficulties because 
of the two different assignments of position which 
have been made to the oxygen atoms, while the 
results from pyrites and cesium dichloro-iodide are 
in substantial agteement and are chosen as offering 
the basis for the fairest test of the hypothesis. It is 
claimed that numerous results (given in the paper) 
not in accord with the hypothesis show conclusively 
that the latter is not in harmony with experiment— 
a result which might be anticipated on theoretical 
grounds, although approximate agreement is obtained 
in isomorphous crystals composed of only two kinds 
of atoms, where the interatomic distances have 
additive properties. In cases of compounds where 
the atomic environments are different, the interatomic 
distances may change by several tenths of an Angstrom 
unit. 
GASOLINE IN THE UNITED SratEs.—The natural- 
gas gasoline industry in the United States continues 
to expand, and the total production of nearly 
450,000,000 gallons of gasoline in 1921 exceeded that 
of 1920 by some 145,000,000 gallons, according to 
statistics recently published in an advance chapter of 
the Mineral Resources of the United States for 1921. 
The value of the gasoline produced, however, dropped 
to 10,000,000 dollars less than in the previous year, 
owing to the break in the petroleum market and the 
general lowering of prices. The processes involved in 
the production of natural-gas gasoline are conneaen 
undergoing changes, and there is obviously still 
plenty of room for improvement of the plants employed. 
The compression process of extraction is fast giving 
| way to the absorption process, not because the latter 
is technically more efficient, but because the product 
obtained by the absorption process is more uniform, 
stable, and commands a higher market price. The 
combination of both compression and absorption 
processes, however, is finding increasing favour with 
operators, and may quite conceivably become the 
standard plant of the future. Production of gasoline 
on a large scale is faced with certain problems which - 
are not always easy to contend with; for example, 
| summer temperatures frequently cause difficulty in 
cooling the water sufficiently for condensation, while 
cold weather, on the other hand, aids condensation 
to such an extent that pipe-line freezing occurs, 
interrupting the transport of the gasoline. Another 
problem seriously affecting the industry is that 
connected with waste of gas which must inevitably 
occur when a new well is brought in; obviously, in 
operating a new lease, it is not policy to install an 
expensive plant until the probable output of gas from 
several wells has been gauged; drilling these new 
wells takes time, and thus in developing a property 
much gas is initially lost which it would undoubtedly 
pay to treat for gasoline. 
—_ 
