390 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXI. No. 793 



camphors differ only quantitatively in action. 

 " Apparatus for Recording the Outiiow of 

 Liquids," by W. E. Williams. The mechanical 

 description of an efficient method of recording 

 secretions in physiological work. 



RECENT PROGRESS IN METEOROLOGY AND 

 CLIMATOLOGY 



That interest in meteorology and climatol- 

 ogy is increasing is shown by the advance- 

 ment made within recent years, in the instruc- 

 tion offered in these fields by American colleges 

 and universities. A comparatively few years 

 ago only a few of the larger eastern universi- 

 ties included such courses among their sci- 

 ences. At the present time, however, nearly 

 every institution of note offers such electives, 

 while in most agricultural schools these studies 

 are included in the prescribed work. In some 

 institutions, such as the Universities of Iowa 

 and of Wisconsin, the courses are included in 

 the work offered by the department of physics, 

 while in others, notably Harvard and the Uni- 

 versity of Minnesota, they come under the 

 supervision of the department of geology. A 

 typical example of the rapid growth of interest 

 in these sciences from an educational point of 

 view is seen in the history of the courses in 

 the last named institution. The first course 

 in meteorology at the University of Minnesota 

 was given by Professor C. W. Hall, head of 

 the department of geology, in the spring term 

 of the year 1906-7. This was a half-year 

 course in elementary meteorology and the class 

 numbered ten students, all of whom were 

 juniors or seniors in the academic college. 

 The numbers have grown and the interest has 

 increased to such an extent that during the 

 present school year a course covering one year, 

 and including climatology, has been instituted 

 by Professor E. M. Lehnerts, of the same de- 

 partment, who now has charge of the work. 

 The class in the latter course now numbers 

 seventy-six, of whom forty-seven are juniors 

 and seniors in the academic department, and 

 twenty-nine are freshmen and sophomores in 

 forestry and agriculture. 



The last number of the United States 

 Weather Bureau's Monthly Weather Review 



in its accustomed form has recently been is- 

 sued. As announced by Professor Willis L. 

 Moore, the chief of the bureau, on March 12 

 last, the Weather Review will hereafter be " a 

 monthly report of the weather and climatology 

 of the country, and there will be excluded 

 from its pages everything technical that is not 

 of a purely climatological nature or a current 

 report of weather conditions." While the 

 change was doubtless made after careful de- 

 liberation, it is a change that students of 

 meteorology will regret nevertheless, as it 

 leaves the United States without a single 

 meteorological journal of any kind. Although 

 various American journals contain notes from 

 time to time in meteorology and climatology, 

 no magazine is devoted exclusively to these 

 sciences, as are several in Europe. With our 

 extensive weather service and with the in- 

 creased interest in these fields within recent 

 years, it would seem that the time is now 

 ripe for the institution of a new journal as a 

 private enterprise. Indeed, it is not improb- 

 able that the deceased American Meteorolog- 

 ical Journal would meet with a hearty wel- 

 come if it should be resurrected. 



Senor V. Castaneda, of the Mexican Weather 

 Service, recently visited the United States 

 for the purpose of studying the methods of 

 distributing weather forecasts, storm warn- 

 ings and the like, and also of the carrying on 

 of other routine matters of a meteorological 

 service. He spent part of September in the 

 central office of the United States Weather 

 Bureau in Washington, and then visited other 

 stations of the bureau, going as far north as 

 Boston, where he visited the Blue Hill Obser- 

 atory. He is the second representative of 

 the Mexican bureau to visit this country in 

 such a capacity — the head of the service, 

 Senor Manuel E. Pastrana, having been here 

 for a considerable period three years ago. The 

 object of his mission was to study the scien- 

 tific basis of weather forecasting and the ac- 

 quiring of the data from which the forecasts 

 are made. The Mexican Weather Service has 

 done some very creditable work, aside from 

 the daily routine, the most important prob- 

 ably having been the preparation of a cloud 



