September 30, 1904.] 



SCIENCE. 



441 



Temperature at Tokio,' by W. Oishi, based on 

 the records taken between 1886 and 1902; 

 ' Temperature moyenne annuelle de la Sur- 

 face de la Mer dans I'Ocean Pacifique Occi- 

 . dental,' by T. Wada, based on observations 

 from 1882 to, 1901, and illustrated by means 

 of monthly and annual isothermal charts ; ' The 

 Epochs of the First Ice in Japan for 1902,' 

 by T. Okada, with a chart ; and ' Evaporation 

 in Japan,' by T. Okada, which is a contribu- 

 tion of considerable general interest and im- 

 portance. The present Bulletin is the first 

 of a series of publications which are to ap- 

 pear under the title Bulletins of the Central 

 Meteorological Ohservatory of Japan. These 

 bulletins are to be issued at convenient inter- 

 vals, and are to contain the results of re- 

 searches on meteorology and allied sciences 

 made by the members of the observatory. It 

 is intended that observations, and their dis- 

 cussion, on special svibjects not included in 

 the routine work of the service, shall also be 

 published. The present volume, with the 

 promise of those issues which are to follow 

 later, indicates a high degree of activity in 

 meteorological work in Japan. 



^^ENNA METEOROLOGICAIi OBSERVATORY. 



The annual volume of the Central- Anstalt 

 filr Meteorologie und Erdmagnetismiis in 

 Vienna (1902, date of publication 1904) gives 

 evidence of a constantly expanding sphere of 

 activity of this observatory, under the able 

 directorship of Dr. J. M. Pernter. Among the 

 noteworthy data contained in this publication 

 are the results obtained by means of self-re- 

 cording instruments on the Sonnblick and 

 Obir (two stations) ; at Tragoss, the interest- 

 ing ' North Eoehn ' station ; at Beirut, Jeru- 

 salem and Port-au-Prince. Dr. Felix M. 

 Exner has been taken on to the regular staS 

 of the central observatory, and has also re- 

 cently been appointed Privat Docent in 

 meteorology at the University of Vienna. Dr. 

 Exner recently spent several weeks in the 

 United States, making a study of our meteor- 

 ological equipment at Washington, Blue Hill 

 and other places, and of the methods and illus- 

 trations employed in teaching meteorology 

 at Harvard and elsewhere. His work in teach- 



ing at Vienna will help to give that city added 

 prestige as a meteorological and climatological 

 center. A supplement to the present volume, 

 which was published some months ago, deals 

 with the question of 'weather shooting,' and 

 was reviewed in these columns. 



MOUNTAIN SICKNESS. 



Mosso, who has made a considerable study 

 of the physiological effect of higher altitudes, 

 contributed two papers to the Atti dei Lincei, 

 for June 19 last, which, according to the ab- 

 stract published in Nature, of August 4, tend 

 to disprove the assumption that the difficulties 

 experienced are due solely to the diminished 

 tension of the oxygen in the air. Mosso now 

 shows that when the barometric pressure of a 

 mixture of oxygen and nitrogen is diminished 

 to one third of an atmosphere, while the pro- 

 portion of oxygen is increased until its partial 

 pressure is the same as under ordinary circum- 

 stances, severe inconvenience, abnormal respir- 

 ation and pulse action result. That this is 

 not due merely to the increased proportion of 

 oxygen has been shown by a study of the 

 effects produced by breathing pure oxygen on 

 the summit of Monte Rosa. Blood analyses 

 indicate that a diminution in the proportion 

 of carbon dioxide, caused by the low pressure, 

 is probably responsible for the result. This 

 view is upheld by the fact that a mixture of 

 oxygen and carbon dioxide, containing 20 per 

 cent, of the latter, which resulted in dizziness 

 and nausea when breathed at Turin, was at- 

 tended by sensations of ease and pleasure 

 when breathed on Monte Rosa. 



R. DeC. Ward. 



NOTES ON INORGANIC CHEMISTRY. 



CONDITION OF HELIUM IN PITCHBLENDE. 



R. J. Moss recounts in the Comptes Eendus 

 an attempt to determine the condition in 

 which helium exists in pitchblende. The 

 mineral was powdered in a vacuum. The 

 chief substance set free was water vapor, and 

 it was accompanied by small quantities of 

 helium, carbon diojxid, nitrogen and oxygen. 

 While about one half of the gas set free, ex- 

 clusive of water, was often helium, yet the 



