January 26, 1906.] 



SCIENCE. 



137 



Strabo has been called the greatest geog- 

 rapher of ancient times. His views on geo- 

 graphical subjects were remarkably advanced, 

 and his statements on the particular division 

 of geography which has now become known as 

 climatology were in most cases surprisingly 

 accurate. In the little volume before us. Dr. 

 Rid gives an excellent presentation of Strabo's 

 views on elimatological matters. While adopt- 

 ing the division of the earth's surface into five 

 zones, which Parmenides had probably orig- 

 inally proposed, Strabo recognized the fact 

 that the ' torrid ' zone, which was then believed 

 to be uninhabitable because of the heat, was 

 at least partly habitable. He was also the 

 first of the Greeks to state explicitly the fact 

 that mountain climates have lower teihpera- 

 tures than the surrounding lowlands. He 

 realized that what we now call solar climate 

 is much modified by the physical features of 

 the earth's surface, and that a latitude line 

 runs through diverse climates. This was a 

 distinct step in advance. Some of the rela- 

 tions of climate and man were emphasized by 

 Strabo in much the same words as those we 

 use to-day. The discussion by Dr. Rid will 

 prove interesting to classical students as well 

 as to climatologists. 



R. DeC. Ward. 



SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND ARTICLES. 

 The October-November number of The 

 Journal of Geology gives a biographic sketch 

 of Ferdinand, Freiherr von Riehthofen, by Mr. 

 Bailey Willis. This is followed by the lead- 

 ing article, entitled ' Structure and Relation- 

 ships of American Labyrinthodontidse,' by E. 

 B. Branson. He describes a new genus and 

 under it two new species. The article is ac- 

 companied by fourteen figures. Professor 

 John J. Stevenson's ' Recent Geology of 

 Spitzbergen ' deals mostly with glaciation 

 and the submerged channels of the island. 

 Professor Stuart Weller, in his article on ' The 

 Northern and Southern Kinderhook Faunas,' 

 says : " The interrelationships of the various 

 expressions of the Louisiana-Kinderhook- 

 Burlington faunas under discussion are such 

 as to make their correlation a matter of some 

 certainty." The last article of the number is 



an illustrated one on ' The Development of 

 Scaphites,' by W. D. Smith. The writer con- 

 cludes thdt ' the genus Scaphites is in need 

 of revision ' since it is polyphyletic. 



The fore-part of the October number of The 

 American Geologist is devoted to ' Ten Years' 

 Progress in the Mammalian Paleontology of 

 North America,' by Professor Henry Fairfield 

 Osborn. He traces the lines along which re- 

 search has been conducted and points out the 

 directions in which future results may be ex- 

 pected. Dr. Osborn's article is illustrated by 

 seven diagrammatic figures. ' Some Geological 

 Observations on the Central Part of the Rose- 

 bud Indian Reservation,' by Mr. Albert B. 

 Reagan, gives some interesting sections of 

 Tertiary and Cretaceous formations and also 

 an account of the surface features with a 

 geological map of the reservation. Dr. 

 August F. Foerste's ' Notes on the Distribu- 

 tion of Brachiopoda in the Amheim and 

 Waynesville Beds ' give some valuable infor- 

 mation regarding species found associated in 

 these beds. In the editorial comment on ' The 

 Willamette Meteorite ' Professor Winchell 

 takes exception to Dr. Ward's atmospheric 

 pressure theory of the formation of the con- 

 cavities in its base and regards them as the 

 spaces formerly occupied by some such min- 

 erals as olivine and troilite which have been 

 removed since its fall by the ordinary proc- 

 esses of rock decay. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 

 THE OHIO ACADEMY OF SCIENCE. 



The fifteenth annual meeting of the academy 

 was held in Cincinnati on November 30, De- 

 cember 1 and 2, 1905, the president of the 

 society. Professor Herbert Osborn, presiding. 

 On Thursday evening an informal meeting 

 took place at the Museum of the Society of 

 Natural History. The sessions on Friday and 

 Saturday were held in Cunningham Hall, at 

 the University of Cincinnati. 



The address of the president of the society, 

 on ' The Origin of the Wings of Insects,' oc- 

 curred at 1:15 P.M., on Friday, and at 7:30 

 P.M. President Dabney of the University of 

 Cincinnati, vice-president of the society, de- 



