REVIEWS. 
299 
A METEOROLOGICAL TEXT-BOOK.* 
T HE Secretary of tlie Scotch Meteorological Society has supplied us with 
a small text-hook on the science of meteorology which is at once plain, 
well worked out, and exceedingly full of interest. Indeed now-a-days, 
when we are deluged with works, six or seven of which are invariably com- 
piled from some pre-existing volume, the work of Dr. Buchan is a most 
refreshing one, and we think he deserves considerable credit for the labour 
he has taken in producing the volume. The contents of the work are briefly 
as follows : — History and scope of the science j weight or pressure of the 
atmosphere j distribution of atmospheric pressure ; the method of observing 
and calculating temperature ; solar and terrestrial radiation ; distribution of 
terrestrial temperature j relation of temperature to pressure j moisture of the 
atmosphere ; mists, fogs, and clouds ; rain, snow, and hail ; prevailing winds ; 
monsoons, local and other winds •, storms ; atmospheric electricity ; thunder- 
storms ; whirlwinds and waterspouts $ aurora borealis ; ozone, optical pheno- 
mena j meteors ; and lastly, weather and other warnings. All of these 
chapters are full as they can be of useful matter, and must be read by those 
who delight in such matters. We may, however, take one or two notes from 
them. Firstly, of the box for thermometers. This is particularly useful, 
even to the most limited weather student. It is necessary that thermo- 
meters should be protected u from the direct and reflected rays of the sun, and 
at the same time have the benefit of a free circulation of air. No possible 
arrangement can completely fulfil both these conditions ; for if they be com- 
pletely protected from solar radiation, the circulation of the air must be 
unduly interfered with ; and if the circulation of the air be quite unim- 
peded, the thermometers are unduly exposed to radiation. All, therefore, 
that can be secured is a compromise between protection and circulation. 
The best and cheapest contrivance yet devised to meet these requirements is 
the louvre-boarded box for thermometers , constructed by Mr. Thomas 
Stevenson, C.E., Edinburgh, and now largely used by the observers of the 
Scotch Meteorological Society and other meteorologists. 7 ’ The author' then 
gives a minute description of the box, accompanied by figures, and describes 
how it is to be placed, and the best method of taking observations with it, 
all of which we commend to the serious consideration of young meteoro- 
logists. Similarly we would recommend his attention to the evapometer , the 
atmometer , and the hygrometer , on each of which the author has some telling 
remarks to make. Under the head of rain, snow, and hail, we find the 
various descriptions of rain-gauge described, the author seeming to imagine 
that the invention of Mr. G. L. Symons, of London, who is so well known 
for his meteorological investigations, is about one of the best. We find 
under this section a short account of those regions of the earth in which 
there falls no rain from year to year ; such are the coast of Peru, the valley 
of the rivers Columbia and Colorado, the Sahara, and the desert of Gobi. 
* u Introductory Text-Book of Meteorology.” By Alexander Buchan 
M.A., F.R.S.E. William Blackwood & Sons, 187 . 
