August 5, 1904.] 



SCIENCE. 



183 



ods and Standards of Instruction in Meteor- 

 ology,' ' Weather Forecasts by Local Ob- 

 servers,' ' Polarization of the Light of the 

 Sky ' and other matters. 



OCEAN METEOROLOGY. 



Captain D. Wilson-Barker, in his presi- 

 dential address before the Royal Meteorolog- 

 ical Society (Quart. Journ. Boy. Met. Soc, 

 XXX., April, 1904), believes that the solution 

 of many meteorological problems should be 

 sought in a closer study of the atmospheric 

 conditions over the oceans. The work of 

 Maury and Fitz Roy is appreciatively referred 

 to, and the present state of our knowledge of 

 marine meteorology is sketched. The author 

 says : " In taking note of the meteorological 

 work accomplished in different countries, we 

 find the United States of America well to the 

 fore. . . . The United States government is in- 

 defatigable in collecting knowledge beneficial 

 to seamen." The opinion is expressed that 

 we have reached the limits to which it is pos- 

 sible for us to go in weather forecasting with 

 the meteorological knowledge at present within 

 our reach. What is now required is a ' liberal 

 infusion of scientific imagination into our 

 midst.' There is appended to this paper a 

 list of some of the publications bearing on 

 marine meteorology issued between 1886 and 

 1903, and the illustrations conaprise a series of 

 charts of temperature, pressure, winds, rain- 

 fall and cloudiness over the oceans. 



WHEAT IN CANADA. 



In the Canadian Magazine for April, Dr. 

 Wm. Saunders, in discussing wheat-growing 

 in Canada, states that he has received from 

 Dunvegan, on the Peace River, 414 miles north 

 of Winnipeg, samples of wheat weighing 64 

 pounds to the bushel, and from Fort Simpson, 

 818 miles north of Winnipeg, Ladoga wheat 

 weighing 62J pounds to the bushel has been 

 obtained. Between sowing and harvesting the 

 time varied between 101 and 108 days. The 

 quick ripening of cereals in far northern lati- 

 tudes is well known, and the successful culti- 

 vation of wheat in northern Canada means 

 that the agricultural future of those northern 



territories is much brighter than was at one 

 time supposed. 



INTERNATIONAL CLOUD ATLAS. 



A NEW edition of the ' International Cloud 

 Atlas,' published in 1896 under the direction 

 of de Bort, Hildebrandsson and Riggenbach, 

 is to be undertaken, provided sufficient interest 

 is shown in the matter by scientific men. 

 The ' Atlas,' as is well known to readers of 

 Science, presents views of cloud forms classi- 

 fied in accordance with the so-called interna- 

 tional classification of clouds, which was offi- 

 cially adopted and recommended by the In- 

 ternational Cloud Committee in 1891. The 

 illustrations are beautifully colored, and quite 

 apart from its great value to meteorology, the 

 ' Cloud Atlas ' is well worth owning for the 

 beauty of the illustrations alone. It is to be 

 hoped that all those who have found the atlas 

 useful in their work will communicate with 

 the committee in charge of the publication of 

 the new edition. 



BRITISH METEOROLOGICAL COUNCIL. 



The committee appointed by the British 

 treasury in December, 1902, ' to inquire and 

 report as to the administration by the meteor- 

 ological council of the existing parliamentary 

 grant, and as to whether any changes in its 

 apportionment are desirable in the interest of 

 meteorological science, and to make any fur- 

 ther recommendations which may occur to 

 them, with a view to increasing the utility of 

 the grant,' has made its recommendations. 

 These include the reconstitution of the meteor- 

 ological office as a department under the con- 

 trol of the board of agriculture and fisheries; 

 the appointment of ' a man of science as a 

 director of meteorology, appointed after con- 

 sultation with the Royal Society ' ; the ap- 

 pointment of an advisory board of five mem- 

 bers, two being nominated by the Royal 

 Society, one being the hydrographer to the 

 Admiralty, one being a representative of the 

 Board of Trade, and one of the Board of Agri- 

 culture and Fisheries; and the appointment 

 of a second officer as scientific assistant to the 

 director. The other recommendations relate 



