76 
during 1898,’ compiled by H. C. Russell, Gov- 
ernment Astronomer of New South Wales, show 
that the year 1898 is to be classed as a drought 
year, and was the fourth of that character to 
follow in succession. The average rainfall of the 
Colony for the year was 20.54 in., as against 
an average rainfall, derived from 28 years? 
record, of 24.85 in. The heaviest average 
rainfall, 64 in., is found on the Tweed river, 
just at the foot of a range of mountains from 
4,000 to 6,000 feet high, against which the trade 
windsblow. A hopeful view is taken by Mr. 
Russell regarding the possibility of long range 
weather forecasts in New South Wales. ‘‘I am 
fully convinced,’’ he says, ‘‘ that a complete rec- 
ord-of the rainfall will enable us to forecast 
the seasons with some show of success, provided, 
of course, that the extended knowledge of our 
rainfall is concurrent with a careful study of 
Australian and tropical weather, which is now 
in progress. * * * Further study will, there is 
reason to expect, explain the reason for dry 
years and when to expect them.”’ 
RAINFALL AND ALTITUDE IN ENGLAND. 
THE Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteoro- 
logical Society, for October, contains a paper by 
Marriott on ‘ Rainfall in the West and Kast of 
England in Relation to Altitude above Sea- 
Level,’ in which the mean annual and monthly 
rainfalls at the English and Welsh stations are 
discussed for the ten-year period 1881-1890. 
The stations are classed as ‘eastern’ and ‘ west- 
ern,’ the former being those that drain to the 
east and the latter those that drain to the west. 
A further classifi:ation was made according to 
altitude, the stations being grouped together 
for each 50 ft. up to 500 ft., and above that 
altitude for each 100 ft. The increase of rain- 
fall with altitude may be compactly summarized 
as follows: 
100 feet + 9 per cent. 600 feet + 5 per cent. 
200) “ar an qi O seas) 
Gh Ge goo “+3 
400“ +14 « 900) (unas 
500 te + 1 ce 1000 be — 91 “cc 
A NEW METEOROLOGY. 
A NEW ‘popular’ presentation of the essen- 
tial portions of meteorology, within the compass 
SCIENCE. 
[N.S. Vou. XIII. No. 315. 
of a small octavo volume of 123 pages, at a cost 
of 80 Pfennige (20 cents) comes in a recent mail. 
from Germany. ‘This little book is by Paul 
Kaegbein ; is entitled ‘ Meteorologie’ ; appears 
in the Wissenschaftliche Volksbibliothek ; is pub- 
lished by Schnurpfeil, of Leipzig, and can really 
be recommended as giving a good general view 
of the subject with which it deals. The price 
is certainly low for the amount of information 
contained in the book. One of the chief objec- 
tions to the book is the fact that the author has 
drawn largely on some of the standard works 
on meteorology, such as Hann’s Handbuch der 
Klimatologie ; Abercromby’s Weather, ete., with- 
out acknowledging his indebtedness to the 
writers from whom he obtained his material. 
ATLAS OF THE INDIAN OCEAN. 
THE Royal Meteorological Institute of the 
Netherlands has recently issued a meteorolog- 
ical atlas of the Indian Ocean for the month 
of June, July and August. The two preceding 
volumes for the months of December, January 
and February, and March, April and May, 
respectively, preceded the present volume by 
seven years. The charts contained in the third 
part of this important publication are stated in 
the preface to have been ready in September, 
1899. There are in all twenty-two charts, 
showing surface temperatures of the ocean 
water; ocean currents (velocity and direction) ; 
pressure; air temperature ; winds (by means of 
wind roses); rainfall (in percentages); the 
distribution of thunder, fog, hail, cloudiness ; 
the average limits of whales, flying fish, etc. ; 
the sailing routes; percentages of storm fre- 
quency, and the trajectories of cyclones. 
R. DEC. WARD. 
THE INTERNATIONAL CATALOGUE OF 
SCIENTIFIC LITERATURE.* 
At the International Conference which met in 
London last June to discuss this subject, it was 
thought that the time had arrived when the 
great work of publishing a complete catalogue 
of all the scientific literature of the world might 
be undertaken with every prospect of success. 
A Provisional International Committee was, 
therefore, appointed at the Conference to carry 
* From Nature. 
