416 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. VII. No. 169. 



■ia Nature for February 17th, were much 

 less striking than was anticipated. The 

 influence of the eclipse on the barometer 

 was either nil or so small that a care- 

 Jul study of the tracings will be necessary 

 in order to detect it. The temperature 

 rose more slowly than usual from 11 a. m. 

 until about totality, when it fell rapidly 

 about 5° F., and was constant for some 

 time after totality, but the fall in tempera- 

 ture was partly at first due to the usual 

 change from land winds to sea breezes, 

 which usually takes place at noon. The 

 solar radiation thermometer was the only 

 instrument which showed any considerable 

 influence due to the solar eclipse. This 

 thermometer rose steadily from sunrise 

 until about five minutes after the com- 

 mencement (i. e., 11:15 a. m.), when it 

 read 144°. It fell continuously and with 

 increasing rapidity until the end of totality, 

 when it registered 81.5°,=practically the 

 temperature of the air. During the latter 

 part of this period it fell at the rate of up- 

 wards of 4° in five minutes. 



Hainan's klimatologie. 

 The publication of a second edition of 

 Hann's Klimatologie emphasizes anew the 

 urgent need that exists for a standard 

 work on climatology in the English lan- 

 guage. At pi-esent there is no book of the 

 tind in English, and indeed tliere is little 

 likelihood that anyone will attempt such a 

 work, since Dr. Hann has so thoroughly and 

 so masterfully presented the subject, on 

 which be is the acknowledged authority the 

 world over. The rapidly growing interest in 

 meteorology and climatology in the uni- 

 versities and schools of the United States 

 makes an English text-book very desirable, 

 if not essential, and it must be the hope 

 of American teachers and students of these 

 two branches of science that an English 

 translation of the new edition of Hann's 

 work will not long be delayed. 



BAROMETRICAL DETERMINATION OF HEIGHTS. 



The ' Barometrical Determination of 

 Heights ' is the title of a neat little book of 

 28 pages by Dr. F. J. B. Cordeiro, of the 

 United States Navy. The essay was orig- 

 inally written in competition for the Hodg- 

 kins Fund prize (the preface has it Hodgkin) , 

 offered by the Smithsonian Institution. The 

 problem of barometrical hypsometrj^ is re- 

 viewed, and a new formula is proposed 

 which, the author states, ' is rigidlj"- accu- 

 rate in theory and which in practice will 

 give reliable results under all conditions.' 

 R. DeC. Ward. 



Hakvaed Univehsity. 



CURRENT NOTES ON ANTHROPOLOGY. : 



THE ABORIGENES OF WESTERN ASIA. 



Few localities on the globe have greater 

 historic interest than Asia Minor and Syria; 

 and the traits of the oldest inhabitants of 

 those regions have, therefore, some special 

 importance. The subject was discussed be- 

 fore the anthropological section of the In- 

 ternational Medical Congress, at Moscow, 

 last August, with an abundant difference 

 of opinion. Professor Sergi maintained 

 that the most ancient skull-form found 

 there was markedly dolichocephalic; while 

 Dr. von Luschan asserted that it was ' hyp- 

 sibrachicephalic,' the purest modern ex- 

 amples of which are among the Armenians. 

 Professor Virchow disagreed with von 

 Luschan, and the fact, generally acknowl- 

 edged, that the Armenians, who are a 

 branch of the Arj^an family, were immi- 

 grants into Asia Minor, seems to be in con- 

 flict with their identification with the primi- 

 tive settlers. 



ETHNOLOGICAL STUDY OF CULTIVATED PLANTS. 



At the last meeting of the German An- 

 thropological Society, Dr. Hahn read a 

 paper on cultivated plants in reference to 

 ethnology. It is a significant fact that the 

 Australians, before the discovery, did not 



