October 7, 1910] 



SCIENCE 



459 



due to the fact that the temporary physical 

 state of the earth's atmosphere is what it is 

 at any point in consequence of the effects of 

 solar radiation in the earth's circulating at- 

 mosphere. This subject has developed so 

 many diiScult problems in the relations of 

 temperature distribution to local absorption 

 and emission of radiant energy, of radiation 

 to ionization, atmospheric electricity and mag- 

 netism and of heat energy to general and local 

 circulation, that the best resources of astron- 

 omers, physicists and mathematicians are 

 called upon for their solution. The extent 

 and range of these complex subjects, and the 

 number of able scientists who are interested 

 in them, is making a demand that meteorology 

 shall be recognized as an independent section 

 of the British Association for the Advance- 

 ment of Science. This question is receiving 

 the careful consideration of the council, and 

 the several conflicting claims will be weighed, 

 with the present probability that the new 

 section will be established. 



The meeting of September 6 was opened by 

 a discussion of the status of the problems of 

 atmospheric electricity, being a resume of the 

 practical aspect of the theory and the appa- 

 ratus, by Dr. Charles Chree, superintendent 

 of the Kew Magnetic Observatory. The 

 Thomson water-dropping apparatus for the 

 electrical potential has been recently so far 

 improved that the average gradient in volts 

 per meter has risen from 200 to 300 in many 

 cases. The Elster and Geitel apparatus for 

 dissipation of electric charges, and the con- 

 ductivity of the air, is still vitiated by the 

 difficulty of saturated fields around the 

 charged body. The Ebert ion-counter does 

 not clear the passing current of air of aU the 

 contained ions. In short, the work of ar- 

 riving at any absolute standard instruments 

 is still very considerable. Sir Oliver Lodge 

 followed with an account of Lemstrom's appli- 

 cation of static electricity to the growth of 

 plants, as indicated by experiments in Eng- 

 land, and fully recommended further investi- 

 gations. Professor J. J. Thomson discussed 

 the very high tension electricity in the at- 

 mosphere as exhibited in thunder storms, 

 and preferred to refer it to the action of con- 



vection currents. Dr. W. N. Shaw gave an 

 interesting account of several meteorological 

 problems along these lines. The consensus of 

 opinion is clear that this entire range of 

 problems requires much more work of investi- 

 gation in every possible way before any con- 

 clusion of a definitive sort will be possible. 



The individual papers were as follows: 



Dr. W. Schmidt, of Vienna, described an 

 apparatus for measuring the short waves of 

 the barometric pressure, as where a warm cur- 

 rent overflows a cold current, after the analogy 

 of Helmholtz's long waves, and fully illus- 

 trated the subject by an application to the 

 local conditions at Innsbruck. 



Mr. W. H. Dines exhibited his instrument 

 for the simultaneous self-recording of the 

 pressure and temperature of the air at all ele- 

 vations reached by balloons. It is very light, 

 weighing only a few ounces, and makes the 

 record without magnification on a small plate, 

 to be read under a microscope at leisure. He 

 showed his records and pointed out that ob- 

 servations made in sunshine are so much 

 affected by radiation that soundings should 

 be carried on at night, in order to avoid the 

 loop in the ascending and descending branches. 



Dr. J. W. Nicholson developed a method of 

 studying the effects of radiation pressure on 

 small particles of different sizes, together with 

 the necessary criteria for application to the 

 forms of comets' tails. 



Miss M. White, of Manchester, gave the re- 

 sults of a remarkable set of ascensions made 

 in March, 1910. It seems that twenty-eight 

 balloons were sent up in a single 24-hour in- 

 terval, and the combined records were exhib- 

 ited. These small balloons, costing about five 

 dollars each, equipped with Dine's instru- 

 ments, penetrated to about 20,000 meters, and 

 they showed the lower level of the isothermal 

 layer to have been at about 11,000 meters in 

 height. Such perfectly definite measures of 

 temperature are of course very valuable be- 

 cause from them the pressure, density and gas 

 coefiieient can be computed, and many impor- 

 tant conclusions depend upon these facts. No 

 expensive observatory establishment is neces- 

 sary for such work, and similar observations 

 ought to be made in all parts of the world. 



