THE AMERICAN NATURALIST. [Vol. XXXVIII. 



his Handbuch dcr Klimatohgie which he reissued in 1897 in three 

 volumes. This is the standard work on the subject of climate and 

 no book in the English language is so authoritative or covers so wide 

 a t^eld. Consequently, Professor Ward's translation of the volume 

 relating to General Climatology, w^hich was made primarily for the 

 use of his classes at Harvard University, confers a great boom on all 

 American and E^ngUsh students of meteorology and physical geog- 



In his title, Professor Ward has been too modest, for his book is 

 itself revised and enlarged, considerable new matter relating to 

 America having been substituted for certain topics which pertained 

 more particularly to Europe. While it might be wished that this new 

 material were distinguished from the author's German text, it is 

 stated that all the additions have been approved by Dr. Hann, so 

 that the translation is virtually a third edition of this part of the origi- 

 nal work. Numerous references to recent periodical and other 

 literature, in various languages, have been added and all the old 

 references have been verified, so far as possible, by the translator. 

 An added convenience is the summary of the contents of each chap- 

 ter, while a copious index of subjects and authors facilitates looking 

 up either. The metric system and the Centigrade scale of tempera- 

 ture are used throughout and should aid in familiarizing our students 

 with these units, which are destined to supplant the English system 

 m scientihc writings. At present, however, the conversion tables in 

 the Appendix will, no doubt, be found necessary by many readers- 

 The German text has been accurately rendered into elegant English, 

 and almost no typographical or other errors have been noted. As was 

 said, only the first volume of Dr. Hann's work has been translated 

 and this evidently possesses the most general interest, since the 

 climatology of special regions, discussed by Dr. Hann in his other 

 two volumes and consisting largely of statistics, can be more easily 

 consulted by persons not familiar with the German language. 



In conclusion, the reviewer expresses the hope that this admirable 

 and disinterested work may have a wide circulation in our high 

 schools and colleges and indeed among all English speaking persons 

 who desire to understand the climatic conditions of the globe and 

 their cause. 



A. Lawrence Rotch. 



