440 THE JOURNAL OF GEOLOGY. 



Elemeiitary Meteorology. By William Morris Davis, Pro- 

 fessor of Physical Geography in Harvard College. Bos- 

 ton, U. S. A. Ginn & Co., Publishers, 1894, pp. 



XII. + 355. 



The announcement, made some months ago, that Prof. Davis was 

 about to publish a work on meteorology, was hailed with satisfaction 

 by all those interested in this branch of natural science. The book, 

 which has recently been issued by Ginn & Co., presents the condensed 

 results of the author's reading, observation, and teaching during the 

 last fifteen years. Since it has been prepared by one who is not only 

 eminent as an original investigator, but also as an experienced teacher, 

 it is scientific in its treatment, fully in accord with the latest advances in 

 meteorology, and, at the same time, well fitted for the use of college 

 students of the more advanced years. In so far as the experience of 

 the writer goes, this book would seem to be better adapted to the 

 abilities of juniors and seniors of the majority of our colleges than 

 to the "later years of a high-school course, or the earlier years of a 

 college course," as the author suggests in the preface. 



The plan of the book is stated by the author at the outset, as fol- 

 lows : "The origin and uses of the atmosphere are first considered, 

 with its extent and arrangement around the earth. Then, as the winds 

 depend on differences of temperature over the world, the control of 

 the temperature of the atmosphere by the sun is discussed, and the 

 actual distribution and variations of temperature are examined. Next 

 follows an account of the motions of the atmosphere in the general 

 and local winds ; in the steady trades of the torrid zone, and in the 

 variable westerly winds of our latitudes. The moisture of the atmos- 

 phere is then studied with regard to its origin, its distribution, and its 

 condensation into dew, frost, and clouds. After this, we are led to 

 the discussion of those more or less frequent disturbances, which we 

 place together under the name of storms ; some of them being large, 

 like the great cyclones or areas of low pressure on our weather maps ; 

 some of them very small, like the destructive tornadoes. The effect of 

 these storms and of other processes in the precipitation of moisture as 

 rain, snow, and hail is next considered. Closing chapters are then 

 given to the succession of atmospheric phenomena that ordinarily fol- 

 low one another, on which our local variations of weather depend, 

 together with some account of weather prediction ; and another on 



