July 22, 1898.] 



SCIENCE. 



97 



cently issued, has for its frontispiece a view 

 of the south front as it will appear when the 

 work on the east and west wings, now in 

 progress, is completed. This front will 

 have a length of 700 feet and, great as it 

 will be, the area covered is only about a 

 third of that planned for the finished struc- 

 ture. This will afford room for growth for 

 many years to come, without any crowding 

 of the collections, and it is small wonder 

 that the American Museum, with its spa- 

 cious exhibition halls, laboratories and 

 offices, is at once the admiration and envy 

 of other institutions. 



Other illustrations in this report are views 

 of collecting parties at work in Nebraska, 

 and some of the mounted specimens in the 

 paleontological hall. Although the Depart- 

 ment of Vertebrate Paleontology has been 

 organized but seven years, this hall already 

 contains what is probably the most impres- 

 sive exhibit of fossil vertebrates in the world, 

 and while the beauty of Mr. Hermann's 

 preparations can be readily appreciated by 

 the average visitor the plylogenetic ar- 

 rangement of the collections is of great 

 interest to the student. 



The American Museum has also issued 

 an illustrated catalogue of casts, models, 

 photographs and restorations of fossil ver- 

 tebrates which are to be had in exchange 

 or, in certain cases, are for sale. The statu- 

 ettes of Mr. Knight are extremely good 

 and show the great advance that has been 

 made in our knowledge of extinct forms 

 since Waterhouse Hawkins perpetrated his 

 flights of fancy for the Crystal Palace. Of 

 course, it may be said that he had little or 

 no data on which to base his ' restorations,' 

 but it would seem better, under the cir- 

 cumstances, not to have attempted them at 

 all, on the gi'ound that it is better ' not to 

 know so much than know so many things 

 that ain't so.' The most striking and vig- 

 orous of Mr. Knight's restorations is prob- 

 ably the one most open to criticism, but 



there are many who will hesitate to accept 

 without reserve the form and attitudes 

 ascribed to Megalosanrus (^Lcdaj^s) aquihm- 



quis. 



F. A. L. 



CURRENT NOTES ON METEOROLOGY 

 THE CLIMATE OF THE PHILIPPINES. 



The climatic conditions of the Philippine 

 Islands are just now attracting considerable 

 attention, and brief notes, usually very gen- 

 eral in character, concerning these condi- 

 tions are finding their way into print. The 

 ' Philippine Number ' of the National Geo- 

 graphic Magazine (June) contains an article 

 by F. F. Hilder (also published, substanti- 

 ally unchanged, in the Forum for July), 

 two pages and a-half of which are devoted 

 to the climate of the Philippine group of 

 islands. The seasons at Manila are described 

 by the Spaniards as 



" Seis meses de lodo, 

 Seis meses de polvo, 

 Seis meses de todo ;" 



six months of mud, six months of dust and 

 six months of everything. Other brief 

 notes are found in Scribner's Magazine for 

 June, in an article on ' Manila and the 

 Philippines,' by Isaac M. Elliott, formerly 

 U. S. Consul at Manila, and in the American 

 Monthly Revieio of Revieivs for June, in an 

 article by J. T. Mannix, entitled ' Notes on 

 the Philippines.' 



There is much confusion in the public 

 mind just now as to the question of the 

 health of North American troops during a 

 temporary sojourn in the Philippines, and 

 also as to the larger question of possible 

 acclimatization of our people in those 

 islands, in case of permanent occupation. 

 No definite answers can be given to these 

 two questions, but in their consideration 

 three things may well be borne in mind. 

 First : By means of a strict observance of 

 hygienic principles, the death rate among 

 foreigners in a tropical country can be very 



