JXTNE 12, 1896.] 



SCIENCE. 



877 



.synopsis cannot fail to be useful to geologists 

 -as well as satisfactory to the citizens of Penn- 

 sylvania, the features of the beds being given in 

 ^great detail. This synopsis cannot fail to be 

 gratifying, in one sense, to Mr. d'Invillier's 

 predecessors in the bituminous fields, for he 

 has made excellent use of their work. But an 

 oversight, doubtless unintentional on Mr. d'In- 

 villier's part, cannot fail to detract from the 

 pleasure with which his predecessors should 

 read his synopsis ; he has failed to give credit 

 i;o them in the proper places to such an extent 

 that those who use his work hereafter will be 

 .apt to regard him as author rather than as 

 compiler. 



The report closes with a review of the New 

 Red, by Mr. Benjamin Smith Lyman, which is 

 -a synopsis of his own work and a valuable 

 .contribution to the literature of the subject. 



The index is quite a marvel in its way. If 

 -the purpose of its maker had been to conceal 

 the names of the geologists on whose observa- 

 tions the report is based it could hardly have 

 been more successful along that line. Of the 

 ^geologists in charge of districts, Dewees, W. G. 

 Piatt, Carll and Prime are not mentioned ; 

 McCreath, whose chemical work made the sur- 

 vey celebrated, is ignored in the same way. 

 No notice is taken of the work of F. and W. 

 •G. Piatt, Stevenson and White in the bitumi- 

 nous fields ; even Lesley himself is alluded to 

 but once, while the work of one of the com- 

 pilers requires twenty-six references, that of 

 another five, and that of a third none. The 

 list of publications following the index is even 

 more successful than the index itself, for all of 

 the volumes appear to be anonymous except 

 the two publications by Dr. Genth. 



John J. Stevenson. 



JSfeudruckevon Schriften und Kartenuher Meteoro- 



logie und Erdmagnetismiis, herausgegeben von 



Prof. Dr. G. Hellmann; 

 No. 5. Die Bauern-Praktik. 1508. 4°. Pp. 



83. 

 .No. 6. Concerning the Cause of the General Trade 



Winds. By George Hadley. London, 1735. 



4°. Pp. 21. 

 JFacsimiledrueke, mit Einleitungen. Berlin, A. 



Asher & Co. 1896. 



One of the signs that meteorology is now 

 rapidly advancing as a science is the fact that 

 more and more attention is being directed to 

 the ancient writings which marked the first 

 steps in its development. As new discoveries 

 are being made, and as the modern literature 

 of the subject is increasing, we appreciate more 

 fully what the early students and writers did 

 for us, and we are glad to become familiar with 

 their work. The return to the older authors 

 has brought out, during the past two or three 

 years, some interesting translations and re- 

 prints of ancient writings on meteorology. The 

 most notable set of such publications is the 

 series of Neudriicke von Schriften und Karten 

 iiber Meteorologie und Erdmagnetismus, edited 

 by Dr. Hellmann, of Berlin, a very devoted 

 student of meteorology. These reprints are 

 attractively gotten up in rough, white paper 

 covers, and are facsimile reproductions of the 

 originals. Each number contains bibliographi- 

 cal and historical notes prepared by Dr. Hell- 

 mann, which is equivalent to saying that they 

 are full, accurate and interesting. 



The series of Neudrucke, which already in- 

 cluded four reprints of old and rare publica- 

 tions, has lately been enlarged by the addition 

 of two more volumes, Nos. 5 and 6. The first. 

 No. 5, is a reprint of Die Bauern-Praktik, origi- 

 nally published in 1508 and undoubtedly the 

 most widely known of all meteorological books. 

 The original went through sixty editions in 

 Germany, and was translated into French, 

 English, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, etc. 

 The weather prognostics and rules of Die 

 Bauern-Prahtik may be found in the manu- 

 scripts of the 10th to 15th centuries, and, in 

 their beginnings, may be traced back much 

 further, even to the days of the Indo-Germanic 

 tribes and to the ancient Chinese. The princi- 

 pal part of the original publication deals with 

 the forecasting of the weather for the whole 

 year on the basis of the weather observed on 

 Christmas and on the twelve days following it. 

 Although, of course, of no practical use to us 

 at the present day, this reprint is of much in- 

 terest historically to antiquarians and those in- 

 terested in folk-lore, as well as to meteorolo- 

 gists. 



No. 6, of the series, is a facsimile reprint of 



