202 
NATURE 
[APRIL 25, 1912 
advantages in confining any water admitted to a part 
of the width, but have disadvantages even from the 
point of view of stability under disastrous conditions. 
The effect of impact on the superstructure of very 
large ships will have to be considered. In such ships 
it has become a practice to have two or three decks 
above the moulded structure. Would inertia have 
effects somewhat similar to those experienced in rail- 
way collisions, in which the body of the carriage is 
driven from the under-frame? As the boats and 
launching gear are carried’ on these decks, there is a 
possibility of damage to them under such conditions. 
The position of the Board of Trade in relation to 
lifeboat accommodation in large ships is regarded 
with considerable anxiety by the general public. The 
law, as at present laid down by this department, 
called for 8250 cubic feet only in the case of the 
Titanic, which would provide for 825 passengers. 
The American law requires, for vessels of 20,000 
gross tons, that the boats carried should have a 
capacity of 12,420 cubic feet, and an additional 225 
cubic feet for each successive 500 tons above 20,000 
tons. The Titanic accommodation exceeded that re- 
quired by British law, but was less than the American 
law lays down. The engineers of the ship have all 
been lost—their claim to recognition is the simplest 
and best; they did their duty to the end. 
The leading article in The Engineer is also devoted 
to the loss of the Titanic, and raises other urgent 
questions besides those mentioned above: the 
arrangements adopted for securing water-tight sub- 
division, comprising not only the number and dis- 
position of bulkheads, but also the height to which 
they extend and the watertightness of the deck at 
their upper extremity; the construction of trans- 
verse and longitudinal bulkheads, in connection with 
which it will not be found that any consistent 
standard of strength is observable under conditions 
implied by the existence of the bulkhead. The time 
is ripe for the revision of Table 2, Appendix B, of 
the bulkhead committee’s report—a report which is 
taken as a standard by the Board of Trade. Prof. 
J. H. Biles contributes a separate article to The 
Engineer in which the effects of flooding compart- 
ments are fully dealt with. His conclusions are :— 
(1) the transverse bulkheads should in all cases be 
carried as high as possible; (2) the decks should be 
made effectively water-tight. If, however, the whole 
bow be smashed by hitting a vertical wall of ice, the 
value of watertightness of the decks would be 
reduced. 
REPORTS UPON METEOROLOGICAL 
OBSERVATIONS. 
(Ces METEOROLOGICAL SERVICE (1907). 
—This report, which extends to xx+748 quarto 
pages, is considerably belated, owing probably to the 
immense amount of data included in this extensive 
system. It should be borne in mind, however, that the 
results for about 300 stations, with synopses of the 
weather, are published one month after date in the 
Monthly Weather Review, and also that a map is issued 
three days after the close of each month. The present 
volume is divided into seven parts, which may be 
summarised as (1) observations at ordinary stations of 
various classes, mostly taken at local time; (2) ob- 
servations at telegraphic reporting stations, taken at 
75th meridian time; and (3) magnetic observations 
made at Agincourt Observatory. The tables, with 
monthly and yearly means, are very complete, but in 
the absence of maps it is difficult to obtain a general 
view of the annual distribution of the different 
elements. The outstanding feature of the year was 
NO. 2217, VOL. 89] 
the exceedingly cold weather experienced in the 
western provinces in January. In some of these it 
was the coldest January on record, the mean tempera- 
ture being 6-22° below the average. At some 
stations in Alberta minimum temperatures as low as 
56° F. below zero were registered. (On January 11, 
1911, we note that a temperature of —76° was recorded 
at Fort Vermilion, Alberta.) The weather forecasts 
issued for all districts were very successful, the 
average of complete and partial success being 856 
per cent. 
Western Australia, Meteorological Observations 
(1907).—This volume, only recently received, and 
apparently published in i910, contains results of 
observations made at Perth Observatory and other 
places. At the observatory the mean annual tempera- 
ture was 647°; highest mean monthly maximum, 
87°5° (February); lowest mean minimum 49'6° (June) ; 
absolute maximum, 1036°; minimum, 395°; maxi- 
mum solar radiation, 164°2° (January 30); bright sun- 
shine, 2803 hours; rainfall, 40°12 inches; rain days, 
132. Some very high shade temperatures at the out- 
stations were recorded, especially on the north and 
north-west coast, and inland; at Onslow and Marble 
Bar readings of 116°1° and 116'8° respectively were 
reached. Morning and afternoon weather forecasts 
formed an important part of the work at the central 
observatory. The volume includes a useful rainfall 
map, with isohyets for 1907, and tinted areas showing 
where the fall was above the average. 
Transvaal Meteorological Department (1910).—The 
results for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1910, are 
arranged as in previous reports. In some cases only 
the means of hourly or daily observations are given, 
but the original data are carefully preserved and are 
available if wanted. The observers for the year 
numbered 663, an increase of 64 since the last report; 
all those appointed by the observatory are volunteers 
or are attached to other departments. The year was 
generally mild and of a normal character, with the 
exception of a heavy snowfall in August and an un- 
seasonable frost at the end of September. The rain- 
fall was in most parts satisfactory, being equal to or 
more than the average; it was very deficient along the 
western border and in the northern Zoutpansberg. 
The average rainfall for the whole State for six com- 
plete seasons (1904-5 to I9g09-10) was 29'5 inches on 
seventy-three days; this value is subject to some un- 
certainty, perhaps to the extent of o'5 inch, owing to 
the want of observations in some localities. Weather 
reports and forecasts are drawn up daily, and the 
latter are transmitted to all postal telegraph offices 
for exhibition. The synoptic charts on which the 
forecasts are based are not published, because of the 
expense. 
Christiania Meteorological Institute (1910-11).—The 
administration report for the fiscal year ended June 
30, 1911, exhibits a large amount of useful activity. 
Observations were received during the year from 506 
stations, dealing chiefly with rain and snow; the 
results are included in the publications, ‘‘ Meteoro- 
logical Year Book ”’ and ‘‘ Rainfall Observations,” to 
which we have before referred. Among other impor- 
tant matters we may mention the installation of a 
station of the first order in Spitsbergen in connection 
with the radio-telegraphic station there. Meteoro- 
logical data are regularly supplied to various institu- 
tions, including the International Solar Commission 
in London. The ordinary weather forecasts average 
a success of 87'1 per cent.; special forecasts are also 
issued at certain seasons for agriculturists and for 
fishermen. Storm warnings are issued from Bergen. 
Observations of the movements of the upper air by 
means of balloons and the drift of clouds are com- 
municated to Prof. Hergesell at Strassburg. 
