796 



SCIENCE. 



I N. S. Vol. XVII. No. 437. 



jeetionable. The phylogenetic history and the 

 ecological significance of the two processes 

 are totally different. 



Since the appearance of Goebel's ' Organ- 

 ography ' it has been the fashion to urge the 

 morphologists to be humble, but it is not im- 

 possible that a clear definition of terms in 

 accord with the facts of phylogeny, such as 

 morphologists have insisted upon, may still 

 be of some value to botanical science. 



When it is so easy to use such terms as 

 ' staminate ' and ' pistillate,' it seems a pity 

 to permit flowers to be called ' male ' and 

 ' female.' Conway MacMillan. 



PATAGONIAN GEOLOGY. 



Under the title ' L'age des formations sedi- 

 mentaires de Patagonie,' * Dr. F. Ameghino 

 has issued a collection of papers relating to 

 this subject published originally in the Anales 

 de la Sociedad Cientifica Argentina, Vols. 50- 

 54 (1900-1903). The chief purpose of this 

 series is to refute the views on Patagonian 

 geology expressed by Mr. J. B. Hatcher and 

 myself. 



Unfortunately, the representation of my 

 statements as given by Ameghino is in almost 

 every single case more or less inaccurate, 

 sometimes my views are not properly under- 

 stood, sometimes they appear distorted and 

 even directly altered. 



Since it is not worth while to correct aU 

 these misunderstandings — this correction be- 

 ing merely a reiteration of what I have said 

 before — I do not think it necessary to go into 

 detail. I only wish to caution any subse- 

 quent writer occupying himseK with the ques- 

 tion of Patagonian geology, not to rely im- 

 plicitly on Ameghino's representations of my 

 views and statements, but always to consult 

 the original version of them, as laid down in 

 the final report on the ' Tertiary Invertebrates 

 of the Princeton Expedition.' f 



A. E. Oetmann. 



Princeton Univeesitt. 



* Buenos Aires, 1903. 



t ' Reports of the Jr'rinceton University Expedi- 

 tions to Patagonia,' vol. 4, part 2, 1902. 



NOTE 8 ON METEOROLOGY. 



METEOROLOGICAL REPORTER TO THE GOVERNMENT 

 OF INDIA. 



Sir John Eliot, who has for a number of 

 years occupied the important position of 

 meteorological reporter to the government of 

 India, and who received the distinction of 

 knighthood on the occasion of the Durbar at 

 Delhi, is to resign at the close of the present 

 year. Mr. Gilbert T. Walker, who has been 

 appointed Assistant Meteorological Reporter 

 to the government of India, is to succeed Sir 

 John Eliot on the latter's retirement. Mr. 

 WaUver is a fellow of Trinity College, Cam- 

 bridge, where he attained highest honors in 

 mathematics, and where he has taught mathe- 

 matical physics since 1895. He has published 

 a number of important researches on electricity 

 and magnetism. After his appointment to the 

 position of assistant meteorological reporter, 

 Mr. Walker came to the United States, where 

 he made a study of our methods of work in 

 astronomy and in meteorology, visiting the 

 Harvard and the Yerkes astronomical observa- 

 tories, the Blue Hill Meteorological Observa- 

 tory, the Weather Bureau in Washington, etc. 

 Mr. Walker sails for India early in May. 

 With his admirable training in mathematics 

 and physics, his great ability to pursue orig- 

 inal investigations along these lines, and his 

 wonderful field for work in Indian meteorol- 

 ogy, there is no doubt that Mr. Walker will 

 make important contributions to our knowl- 

 edge of the mechanics of the earth's atmos- 

 phere. He may be assured that he takes with 

 him to his new field of labor the best wishes of 

 American men of science for his success in a 

 region where many of those whose names are 

 written large in the history of meteorology 

 have done their work. 



Dunn's ' the weather.' 

 ' The Weather ' (New Tork, Dodd, Mead & 

 Co. 1902. 8vo, pp. 356) is designed to ' avoid 

 all mathematics, and scientific and technical 

 terms (!), and present the subject in the sim- 

 plest and most popular form.' The author is 

 E^ B. Dunn, for several years local forecast 

 official of the Weather Bureau in New Tork 

 City. The book endeavors to cover a large 



