816 
detailed by the Chief of the Bureau to supervise 
the Weather Service work in Maryland, and 
who has carried on this work most successfully 
for several years. Dr. Oliver L. Fassig, In- 
structor in Climatology in Johns Hopkins Uni- 
versity, and also an official of the United States 
Weather Bureau, who contributes an important 
paper to this volume, has been doing most ef- 
fective work at his university through his lec- 
tures, and through his unique but most valuable 
summer field courses in observational meteor- 
ology. Dr. Fassig was formerly Librarian of 
the United States Weather Bureau in Washing- 
ton; he has had the advantage of study under 
the leading European meteorologists, and under 
Professor Cleveland Abbe, the foremost meteor- 
ologist in this country, and is doing a great deal 
to further the advance of scientific meteorology 
in the United States. Finally, Professor Abbe 
himself, although not officially connected with 
the Maryland Weather Service, has had a great 
interest in its work, and has shown his interest 
by recently presenting the whole of his valuable 
meteorological library to Johns Hopkins Uni- 
versity. In addition to this most happy associ- 
ation of men, admirably equipped for their 
work, the Maryland Weather Service has had 
the heartiest codperation on all sides from Na- 
tional and State scientific departments. 
We have spoken at some length of the per- 
sonnel of the Maryland Weather Service, be- 
cause such men are bound to produce excel- 
lent results, and this is the secret of the high 
quality of the present volume, which is em- 
phatically bahnbrechend. It remains for us to 
note, as briefly as may be, the contents of the 
book. 
An Introduction by Professor Clark gives the 
chief facts regarding the establishment of the 
Weather Service, and discusses the scope of the 
work now being carried on, or proposed for the 
future. We agree thoroughly with the Director 
in his views as to the range of subjects which 
fall within the limits of climatologic study. We 
believe, with Professor Clark, that climate can- 
not be studied without a knowledge of the 
physiography of the region under discussion, 
and that the disposition of the rainfall, the re- 
lations of the climate to health and disease, the 
character of forest growth, the distribution of 
SCIENCE. 
[N.S. Von. X. No. 257. 
plant and animal life, the relations of climatic 
conditions to human life and activities, these, 
and still other topics, deserve treatment in a 
complete investigation of any climate. 
A general report on the Physiography of 
Maryland follows the introduction. This re- 
port, by Dr. Cleveland Abbe, Jr., is just in the 
right place in the volume. A physiographic 
basis is essential to the scientific study of cli- 
mates; therefore the surface features of a 
country need consideration before the meteoro- 
logical data are discussed. Dr. Abbe’s report 
is written from the point of view of the new 
geography, and is clearly the result of careful 
and extended study. Doubtless this report 
will shortly be reviewed in this JouRNAL, and 
further mention of it is therefore omitted. A 
word may, however, be said regarding the 
illustrations, in the way of maps, sections and 
heliotype views, which serve to give the student 
of climatology who has the misfortune not to 
know Maryland from his own observations, a 
vivid idea of the chief topographic features of 
the state. 
Part III., a report on the meteorology of 
Maryland, was prepared, by direction of Willis 
L. Moore, Chief of the Weather Bureau, by 
Professor Cleveland Abbe, Dr. Oliver L. Fassig 
and Mr. F. J. Walz. The first paper, by Pro- 
fessor Abbe, concerns the Aims and Methods of 
Meteorological Work especially as conducted by 
National and State Weather Services. This paper 
is divided into several sections, the first of 
which, on Dynamic Meteorology and its Applica- 
tions, deals with the history of weather maps, 
clouds and cloud charts, weather forecasts and 
analytical and experimental research work in 
meteorology. This section is illustrated by 
means of the Hydrographic Office colored 
cloud views, first published in 1897, and by 
means of a series of weather maps. Professor 
Abbe’s interest in all that tends to the advance- 
ment of the higher meteorology is well known, 
and in this paper he has enumerated many 
problems for special research and observation, 
which we heartily commend to the attention of 
those teachers who are fortunate enough to 
have facilities which enable them to offer their 
students such work to do, and who have the 
students who wish to do the work. The second 
