506 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. I. No. 19. 



Buchan, of Ediuburgli, to illustrate the 

 densitj' and temperature of ocean water at 

 different depths ; all available material 

 being employed in this elaborate discvission, 

 whose ultimate object is the determination 

 of the oceanic circulation. The charts ex- 

 hibit the mean annual specific gravitj^ of 

 the surface and the bottom waters, the mean 

 annual surface temj)eratures, and the tem- 

 peratures at every hundred fathoms of 

 depth to 1000, then at 1500, 2000 and at 

 the bottom. At 400 and 500 fathoms the 

 South Atlantic and the North Pacific are 

 the colder oceans ; the N"orth Atlantic and 

 the Indian are exceptionally warm. At 600 

 and 700 fathoms the most remarkable fea- 

 ture is the relation of ISToi'th Atlantic tem- 

 perature to the warm over-saUne water that 

 issues fi-om the Mediterranean; a similar 

 but less marked effect being noticeable iu 

 the Indian ocean near the Red Sea. The 

 average at 700 fathoms being 3S.°1, the 

 northwestern Indian ocean is 44°, the 

 eastern North Atlantic is 51°, with the 

 maximum centering precisely towards Gib- 

 raltar. At 900 and 1000 fathoms the tem- 

 peratures in low latitudes are symmetrically 

 warmer than in high latitudes ; but the 

 difference is less than two degrees. 



Dr. Buchan's text summarizes the facts 

 and deals little with theories ; but he ac- 

 cepts the winds as the chief cause of the 

 surface currents, and he ascribes deep 

 movements to differences of density, thus 

 indicating the truth of both sides of the 

 CroU-Carpenter controversy of a quarter 

 century ago. 



THE EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN. 



The third sei-ies of the ' Berichte der 

 Commission fiir Erforschung des ostlichen 

 Mittelnieeres,' recently issued in the me- 

 moirs of the Imperial Academy of Sciences 

 of Vienna, contains further physical investi- 

 gations by Luksch and "Wolf on the basis of 

 soundings on the ' Pola ' iu the ^gsean sea 



in 1893. The sea con.sists of a number of 

 separate basins, of which the deepest (2250 

 met.) lies north of the east end of Candia. 

 Much greater depths occur iu the Mediter- 

 ranean east and west of this island. Charts 

 of temperature and salinity at the surface 

 and at successive depths to the bottom ex- 

 hibit the distribution of these features with 

 much detail. The surface temperatures are 

 maintained to a depth of about thirtj' meters; 

 then follows a rapid cooling for seventy or a 

 hundred meters, below which there is a 

 gradual cooling to the bottom, where tem- 

 peratures a little lower than 13° C. prevail. 



AMERICAN GEOGRAPHICAL JOURNALS. 



It is regrettable, but for the present per- 

 haps not surprising, that no American 

 geographical society issues a journal from 

 which a student, teacher or geuei-al reader 

 can gather a thorough acquaintance mth 

 geographical activitj^ over the world. A 

 journal of thorough and scientific character 

 needs a background of accumulated ex- 

 perience, a large librarj' and exchange list, 

 a good number of active contriljutors and 

 correspondents, and a large subscription 

 list ; and we have not yet been fortunate 

 enough to develop all these conditions under 

 a single control. The best association for 

 such a journal iu this country would be 

 with the American Geographical Society of 

 New York, its membership being large, its 

 funds comparatively munificent and its 

 librarj' of long-continued growth and cer- 

 tainly much supei'ior to that of any other 

 similar society in the United States ; but, 

 although this society counts explorers, 

 travellers, government officials, professors 

 and a large representation of the general 

 public among its members, the number of 

 its producing geographers is small, and its 

 quarterlj^ Bulletin, now in its twenty-sixth 

 volume, can hardly at present be included 

 among the important geographical peiiodi- 

 cals of the world. We understand that 



