June 3, 1898.] 



SCIENCE. 



767 



troduction, amidst rnmors of wars and war- 

 like preparations Bagulos 6 Ciclones Fili- 

 pinos. Edudio Teorieo-prddico. This mono- 

 graph of over 300 pages is the first complete 

 publication upon the cyclones of the Philip- 

 pines. It is of especial importance just 

 at the present time, when the Philippines, 

 long of peculiar interest to meteorologists, 

 are becoming of interest to the general 

 public of this country as well. The origin, 

 structure, movement, paths, meteorological 

 characteristics, and prognostics, are fully 

 considered, and detailed accounts of certain 

 special cyclones are given. Fifteen figures 

 accompany the report, including a chart 

 showing the average tracks of cyclones in 

 the East, based on the international ob- 

 servations from 1878 to 1888, and on the 

 Manila observations from 1865 to 1896. 



PHYSIOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF HIGH ALTITUDES. 



A SHORT paper by Douglass on the - 

 of High Mountain Climbing (Appalachia, 

 Vol. VIII., No. 4, 1898) summarizes the 

 more important symptoms of mountain 

 sickness as noted by previous climbers, and 

 adds a few notes from the author's own ex- 

 periences. The author is of the opinion 

 that in trips which require two days to 

 reach the summit of the mountain, as, e. g., 

 the ascent of Popocatepetl and Orizaba, the 

 night should be passed at an altitude where 

 mountain sickness is not likely to prevent 

 sleep, that is, at about 13,000 ft. The in- 

 creased discomfort from mountain sickness 

 during the night, and the fact that all the 

 symptoms become exaggerated with in- 

 creasing elevation above sea level, make it 

 advisable to sleep at as low an altitude as 

 possible. 



FOG ON THE NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN. 



On the Pilot Chart of the North Atlantic 

 Ocean for May, 1898, a new scheme for in- 

 dicating the probable prevalence of fog is 

 adopted for the first time. Instead of show- 

 ing the regions of fog in one shade of color- 



ing, as has been done hitherto, the present 

 scheme gives a much more detailed fore- 

 cast. Seven different styles of blue shading 

 are now used, indicating seven degrees of 

 probable duration of fog, in percentages. 

 These percentages are as follows : 10%- 

 20%, 20%-30%, 30%-40%, 40%-50%, 

 50% -60%, 60% -70%, and over 70%. That 

 this more detailed forecast of fog duration 

 will be very acceptable to mariners there 

 can be no doubt. 



CLOUD STUDY AND PHOTOGRAPHY. 



An attractive little book of eighty pages, 

 entitled ' La Photographic et I'etude des 

 nuages,' by Boyer, presents, in four chap- 

 ters, an account of the classification of clouds 

 according to the International System ; of 

 the application of photography to cloud 

 study, and of the calculation of cloud 

 heights and velocities from the photo- 

 graphs. There are several good illustra- 

 tions of cloud forms, reproduced from the 

 cloud sheet of our Hydrographic Office, 

 from the ' International Cloud Atlas,' and 

 from photographs taken at the Observatory 

 at Trappes. 



R. DeC. Ward. 



Harvard Univebsity. 



CVBBENT NOTES ON ANTHROPOLOGY. 

 ETHNOGRAPHY OF WESTERN ASIA. 



The races of western Asia were the sub- 

 ject of an important communication by M. 

 Chantre to the French Association for the 

 Advancement of Science at its last meeting. 

 His conclusions were based upon about 25,- 

 000 measurements, including those of 100 

 women of high cast taken by Madame 

 Chantre. They were altogether derived 

 from 16 different stocks. They differed 

 widely, showing that the population is from 

 very varied sources. In reference to the 

 cephalic index, for example, we have, on 

 the one hand, the Kurds with an average 

 index of 72, and on the other the Baktiars, 



