August 23, 1912] 



SCIENCE 



247 



thus ascribed to terrestrial and not to solar 

 influence. 



THE NEED OF A METEOROLOGICAL LABORATORY 



Professor Cleveland Abbe, who in January 

 last was awarded the Symons Gold Medal by 

 the Eoyal Meteorological Society for his con- 

 tributions " to instrumental, statistical, dy- 

 namical and thermodynamical meteorology 

 and forecasting," has communicated an in- 

 teresting paper to the Franklin Institute, 

 Philadelphia, on " The Obstacles to the Prog- 

 ress of Meteorology." In it he says that even 

 if we had perfect observations and records for 

 ages past, with free air data up to heights of 

 ten or fifteen miles, together with daily 

 weather maps for the whole northern hemis- 

 phere, perfect weather predictions could not 

 now be made because of " our ignorance of 

 many details as to the laws that govern the 

 atmosphere and our inability to put even 

 what little knowledge we have into such a 

 form that it can be perfectly utilized by the 

 forecaster." He shows that in every branch 

 of science progress has been accomplished 

 mainly through laboratory observation and 

 experiment, guided by the spirit of mathe- 

 matics. He therefore says in concluding: 



What I most long to see, and what I believe is 

 of fundamental importance in atmospherics — the 

 want of which is a real obstacle — is the existence 

 of a laboratory building specifically adapted to 

 atmospheric experiments, and the association there- 

 with of able students trained in mathematics, 

 physics and mechanics. When all this is realized 

 the intellectual work that wOl there be done will 

 gradually remove all obstacles to the eventual per- 

 fection of our knowledge of the atmosphere. 



NEW BOOKS 



Among the books which have recently ap- 

 peared are: (1) "Climate and Weather," by 

 H. N. Dickson. London, Williams and Nor- 

 gate, 8vo, 256 pp.. Is. net. (2) " Instructions 

 Meteorologiques," by Alfred Angot. 5th 

 edition. Paris, Gauthier-Villars, 8vo, 161 pp. 

 (3) " International Catalogue of Scientific 

 Literature " — " Meteorology, including Ter- 

 restrial Magnetism." London, Harrison and 



Sons,' 8vo, 238 pp., 15s. (4) "Atlas Pho- 

 tographique des Nauges," by J. Loisel. 8 pp. 

 + 10 pi., Paris, G. Thomas, 18 fr. (5) " The 

 Structure of the Atmosphere in Clear 

 Weather: a Study of Soundings with Pilot 

 Balloons," by C. J. P. Cave. 4vo, 144 pp., 

 Cambridge University Press, 10s. 6d. net. 

 (6) " Meteorological Instruments and Weather 

 Forecasts," by H. T. Davidge. London, P. 

 Marshall and Co., 6d. net. (7) " Barometers 

 and the Measurement of Atmospheric Pres- 

 sure," by C. F. Marvin. 4th edition, 8vo, 

 110 pp., Washington, U. S. Weather Bureau, 

 Instrument Division, Circular F. (8) " Evap- 

 oration from Irrigated Soils," by S. Fortier 

 and S. H. Beckett, 8vo, 77 pp.. Washington, 

 U. S. Ofiice of Experiment Stations, Bulletin 

 248. 



Andrew H. Palmer 

 Blue Hill Observatoei? 



SPECIAL ABTICLES 

 the physiological significance of THE seg- 

 mented STRUCTURE OF THE STRLVTED 

 MUSCLE FIBER 



The question of the physiological signifi- 

 cance of the segmented structure of striated 

 muscle fibers remains for most physiologists 

 one of the standing enigmas of their science. 

 What relation — if any — has this structure to 

 the power of rapid and instantly reversible 

 contraction which is the distinctive peculiarity 

 of this tissue? No entirely satisfactory an- 

 swer to this question has hitherto been found; 

 those which have been proposed are as diverse 

 as their authors' conceptions of the ultimate 

 of the difficulty lies here. The histological 

 literature is full of contradictions and hence 

 — since all can not be right — of misinterpreta- 

 tions. Before agreement can be reached on 

 the physiological question, it is evident that a 

 clear and satisfactory conception of the essen- 

 tial structure of the living muscle-cell is 

 necessary. Many of the structuial minutise 

 visible in histological preparations vary ac- 

 cording to the nature of the treatment ac- 

 corded the tissue. Their physiological signifi- 

 cance is thus doubtful. During recent years 



