June 7, 1918] 



SCIENCE 



567 



the instructor in aeronautical meteorology at 

 the U. S. Army School of Military Aeronautics 

 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 

 has published a syllabus of his course of ten 

 lectures," and also the essentials of these ten 

 as condensed into three lectures." This pres- 

 entation of " Meteorologj' and War-Flying " 

 gives the essence of what the aviator needs to 

 know, and contains full references to this 

 rapidly developing application of meteorology. 

 Major (formerly Professor) Wm. R. Blair 

 has prepared a report on " Meteorology and 

 Aeronautics,"'" the purpose of which is " to 

 show the sort of atmospheric data available 

 and to put the subject in such shajje as may 

 make it bear directly on the problems which 

 are met in aviation." 



While the aviators were being trained, the 

 Signal Corps was establishing its meteoro- 

 logical service abroad. As the first contin- 

 gents of the American Army went overseas. 

 Majors W. E. Blair and E. H. Bowie, ap- 

 pointed respectively from the aerological and 

 forecasting divisions of the Weather Bureau, 

 were put in charge of the meteorological 

 work. In November those responding to a 

 call for a large number of meteorologists were 

 given a period of intensive training at more 

 than a score of Weather Bureau stations. 

 Professor W. J. Humphreys's new book, " The 

 Physics of the Air," which is being published 

 in the Journal of the FranMin Institute, was 

 of great help to the more advanced students. 

 This work is a highly valuable contribution to 

 the science, for it covers the fundamentals of 

 meteorology in such a way that it can be used 

 readily as an advanced text-book. 



ifore meteorologists are needed. So a Signal 

 Corps School of Meteorology has been estab- 

 lished at College Station, Texas. Here over 

 300 meteorologists, physicists, engineers and 

 other technical specialists are about to begin 

 an 8-week course in meteorology. Dr. Oliver 



"Science, July 27, 1917, Vol. 46, N. S., pp. 

 84-85. 



» Uo. Weather Rev., Washington, December, 

 1917, Vol. 45, pp. 591-600. 



JO Report No. 13, 1917, National Advisory Com- 

 mittee for Aeronautics, Washington, D. C. 



L. Fassig. from the Weather Bureau at Balti- 

 more and Johns Hopkins University, is chief 

 instructor. There are to be three assistant in- 

 structors : Mr. W. T. Lathrop, from the Weather 

 Bureau at Greenville, S. C, for instruments, 

 observations and map-making; Lieutenant 

 W^m. S. Bowen, for the aerological work; and 

 Dr. C. F. Brooks, from Yale University, for 

 the course in general meteorology. About 

 thirty of the Weather Bureau men in the 

 school will also assist in instruction. 



In addition to this training of specialists — 

 and perhaps induced thereby — are the short 

 courses in meteorology included in the mili- 

 tary instruction of the Reserve Officers Train- 

 ing Corjjs in many universities. 



Meteorologj' in the navy has been developed 

 by Lieutenant Commander Alexander McAdie, 

 in charge of the aerographic section, and 

 trained men are in ser\'iee overseas and in 

 this coiuitry. A school for men taking up this 

 work is maintained at Blue Hill Meteorological 

 Observatory under the guidance of L. A. 

 Wells, chief observer and forecaster of the 

 observatory. 



Naval training units at the universities, 

 are now, or will soon be, receiving instruction 

 in marine meteorology. 



The importance of meteorology has never 

 before received such wide recognition, and in 

 view of tlie permanent development of aero- 

 nautics, it seems safe to predict that hereafter 

 it will always hold a more important position 

 in the curricula of the universities. 



Charles F. Brooks 

 College Station, Texas 



SPECIAL ARTICLES 



CONCERNING SELECTIVE PERMEABILITY 



In most cases in living organisms, cell 

 permeability does not even seem to violate the 

 known physico-chemical laws. There are, 

 however, several exceptions, notably in the in- 

 testines and kidneys, where the permeability is 

 selective. 



In considering the membranes that seem to 

 disturb osmotic laws, it is often stated that 

 they cause these disturbances because the 



