July 28, 1905.] 



SCIENCE. 



125 



continuation of the high water of 1904, al- 

 though this will probably rank as a season of 

 relatively high water, especially on the upper 

 lakes. 



' The Diurnal Periods of the Temperature,' 

 by Professor F. H. Bigelow. One of Pro- 

 fessor Bigelow's studies on the diurnal periods 

 in the lower strata of the atmosphere, in which 

 he undertakes a critical discussion of the 

 results obtained from balloon and kite ascen- 

 sions during the past ten years. 



' Mathematical Theory of Ice Formation,' 

 by S. T. Tamura. A highly mathematical 

 paper, summarizing what has been done along 

 this line by mathematical physicists and also 

 suggesting new lines of investigation. 



' The Fourth International Conference on 

 Aerial Research,' being an account of the 

 meeting in St. Petersburg in September, 1904. 



' The Meieorologia Generate of Luigi de 

 Marchi.' A review of de Marchi's recent 

 book, which is really a short treatise on phys- 

 ical meteorology. 



NOTES. 



It is interesting to note the receipt of the 

 First Report of the Transvaal Meteorological 

 Department, containing the observations for 

 July, 1903, to June, 1904, inclusive. 



Harrow, as reported in the London Stand- 

 ard of June 8, ' has been alone among the 

 public schools in the non-registration and in 

 the non-publication of an annual series of 

 weather observations.' Recently a full equip- 

 ment of meteorological apparatus, as well as a 

 meteorological library, have been presented to 

 the school. This should serve as an incentive 

 to persons in the United States, where, in 

 spite of much that is encouraging in the situa- 

 tion as regard meteorological instruction, there 

 is still a great deal that needs attention. 



Dr. W. J. S. LocKYER, who has been paying 

 special attention to the relation between solar 

 changes and weather, has recently said (Na- 

 ture, June 8, 1905), in a summary of recent 

 work along these lines : ' There is * * * no 

 reason why we should take a pessimistic view 

 of the attempts made to solve this fascinating 

 riddle of the relationship between changes of 

 solar activity and the vagaries of the weather.' 



In the Meteor-ologische Zeitschrift, No. 4, 

 1905, O. V. Johansson has a paper entitled 

 ' Ueber den Zusammenhang der meteorolo- 

 gischen Erscheinungen mit Sonnenflecken- 

 perioden.' 



del et Terre, Vol. 26, 1905, No. 5, publishes 

 a useful tabular summary of the temperatures 

 (mean monthly) observed during recent Ant- 

 arctic expeditions. This is the first summary 

 of the kind which we have seen. It is accom- 

 panied by some notes on meteorological phe- 

 nomena observed during these different expe- 

 ditions. 



The preparation of an index of weather 

 maps illustrating typical conditions, as an aid 

 in forecasting, is discussed by Captain W. 

 Kesslitz in the Meteorologische Zeitschrift, 

 1905, No. 4. 



The actinometrical observations made by 

 A. Hansky, on Mont Blanc, during 1900, are 

 p. 422. Crova apparatus was employed. The 

 value of 3.29 for the solar constant is given 

 as probably the most accurate, on the basis of 

 these observations. 



R. DeC. Ward. 



SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 



Dr. Nicholas Murray Butler, president of 

 Columbia University, has received the doctor- 

 ate of letters from Oxford University and the 

 doctorate of laws from the University of Man- 

 chester. While in London Dr. Butler has 

 been entertained by the chairman of the Lon- 

 don County Council, the principal of London 

 University, and at a banquet presided over by 

 the minister of education. 



The University of Edinburgh has conferred 

 its honorary doctorate of laws on Professor 

 W. S. Halsted, surgeon in chief of the Johns 

 Hopkins University of Baltimore; Professor 

 I. H. Cameron, of Toronto; Professor Francis 

 J. Shepherd, of Montreal, and Professor W. 

 W. Keen, the Philadelphia surgeon, all of 

 whom are attending the celebration of the 

 quarter-centenary of the Royal College of 

 Surgeons. 



Lord Kelvin and Sir William Christie have 

 been elected honorary members of the Optical 

 Society. 



