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SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXIX. No. 752 



with the results and methods of the pioneer 

 work in hallon sonde meteorology, carried out 

 by Professor Eotch in the United States with 

 the financial cooperation of the Louisiana Pur- 

 chase Exposition, and, later, of the Smithson- 

 ian Institution. Most men of science in this 

 country probably already have a general idea of 

 the importance of this investigation, and those 

 who are able to keep up with meteorological 

 literature know how widely this work has been 

 discussed, and with what a warm welcome the 

 results have been received abroad. If we mis- 

 take not. Science has contained several no- 

 tices of this work. Mr. S. P. Fergusson con- 

 tributes the first portion of the volume, on the 

 " Apparatus and Methods," in which a brief 

 account is given of the historical development 

 of this kind of investigation. (It may be 

 recalled that on March 21, 1893, MM. Her- 

 mite and Besancon first employed a special 

 instrument, recording time, pressure and tem- 

 perature, which was sent up with a hallon- 

 sonde in Europe.) " The Method of Eeducing 

 the Data " is discussed by Mr. H. H. Clayton. 

 Then come a series of tables in which the 

 records are given in extenso. " A Discussion 

 of the Temperature and Wind," also by Mr. 

 Clayton, follows. Particular interest attaches 

 to the vertical temperature gradients, a sub- 

 ject which has been much discussed of late 

 years, and which has important theoretical 

 bearings. It appears that for all seasons the 

 rate of decrease of temperature with increase 

 of altitude above 2 km. increases up to about 

 8 km., then diminishes, and that there is an 

 inversion in the gradient above 13-14 km., 

 the well-known " isothermal stratum," whose 

 existence was first established in Europe. 

 Mr. Clayton contributes an interesting fact to 

 the discussion concerning the cause of this 

 isothermal layer. He suspects that a diminu- 

 tion in the northerly currents is characteristic 

 of the region above 10 km., and that this may 

 in part explain the phenomenon. The most 

 frequent gradients in the lower air (0-1 km.) 

 are the adiabatic gradients of dry air (0.9°- 

 1.1° C.) and of saturated air (0.5°-0.6° C). 

 Inversions of temperature also show a maxi- 

 mum frequency in the lower stratum. Be- 

 tween 1,000 and Y,000 meters the prevailing 



gradients are the adiabatic gradients of satu- 

 rated air. The adiabatic gradients for dry air 

 diminish rapidly from the ground up to 2 km., 

 and are rarely observed between 2 and 4 km. 

 Above 4 km. they increase in frequency and 

 reach a decided maximum between 8 and 



9 km. ; then decrease again in frequency to 

 almost zero between 11 and 15 km. The 

 upper parts of the two zones of maximum 

 frequency of the adiabatic gradients of dry 

 air are regions of maximum cloud frequency, 

 the one zone being characterized by a pre- 

 valence of cumulus clouds, and the other by a 

 prevalence of cirrus clouds. Cold waves, the 

 author believes, are inclined strata of descend- 

 ing air, felt first at the earth's surface, and 

 successively later at greater altitudes. The 

 following statement is of special interest (pp. 

 81-82) : 



At each successive rise of 2 km., the position of 

 the area of cold in the anticyclone, and the posi- 

 tion of the area of warmth in the cyclone, shifts 

 northward in a semicircular course around the 

 centers of the anticyclones and cyclones, until at 



10 km. the area of cold is in the northern portion 

 of the anticyclone, and the area of warmth is 

 in the northeastern portion of the cyclone. 



Our notice is already unduly long. We 

 can but mention a final paper, by Mr. Clay- 

 ton, on " The Distribution of the Meteoro- 

 logical Elements around Cyclones and Anti- 

 cyclones up to 3 Kilometers at Blue Hill," an 

 important contribution to a discussion to 

 which our author has already devoted much 

 time during recent years. 



It is a pleasure to call the attention of the 

 readers of Science to these valuable memoirs. 

 Although the interest in meteorology is not as 

 active or as widespread in this country as it 

 should be, we feel sure that we are expressing 

 the sentiments of a large number of our fel- 

 low-workers in science when we congratulate 

 Professor Botch, and his colleagues, most 

 heartily, on their latest achievements in the 

 field of meteorological research. 



E. DeC. Waed 



Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural 

 History. Twenty-fourth Volume. 

 This large volume is only slightly less 



