reduce the observations at both observatories to sea-level, and thereafter to enter the differences between the two barometers in columns headed 0, 1, 2, etc., of Beaufort's scale. This had been done for the six months ending January last; and as it was desirable to increase the number of observations at the higher velocities in order to obtain good averages, the observations made five times daily at FortWilliam from the beginning of 1885 were compared with those made at the same hours at the top of the Ben, when the wind was at 5 and other velocities up to 11. From these results monthly averages of deviations of the two barometers were deduced, with the result that in all cases a reduced barometer for the top of the hill read lower than that at Fort-William, and the amount is proportioned to the force of the wind. Thus, in calm weather the Ben Nevis barometer was only one-thousandth of an inch lower than that of Fort-William, and as the velocity of the wind increased, the depression gradually became greater up to force 4, when it was fourteen-thousandths lower. From this point it more rapidly increased, till at force 7 the depression was half the tenth of an inch; at force 9, fully the tenth of an inch; and at force 11, a tenth and a half of an inch. These differences, being exhibited in a diagram, showed a remarkable curve of depression corresponding with increased velocity of wind. The results, Dr. Buchan pointed out, might be put to important uses in meteorology, particularly in endeavouring to establish the relation between the barometric gradient and wind-velocity in storms. Hitherto this relation had been attempted to be established from the results as observedthough, it had to be confessed, with not very satisfactory results. Now, however, by applying corrections in accordance with what had been arrived at, this important practical question in meteorology could be attacked with good hopes of sucDr. Buchan further pointed out that, as regarded the mean distribution of pressure over the British Isles, the lower pressure hitherto determined at places on the West Coast peculiarly exposed to strong winds and storms might be due not so much to a natural depression of the barometer in these regions as to the lowering of the barometer by the wind-force that swept past the stations where the observations were made. cess. MISCELLANEOUS. The Tenth Census of the United Kingdom was taken on Sunday, 5th April. M. Chaffanjon has accomplished a journey from the Orinoco to the Essequibo. Starting from Bolivar on the Orinoco, he traversed the basin of the Lower Caroni, and then descended the Cuyuni from its confluence with the Yuruan to its mouth in the Mazaruni. Our Hon. Corr. Member, Dr. Robert Bell, has sent us a pamphlet On Glacial Phenomena in Canada. He asserts that, with the exception of the northern part of the Labrador coast range, the valleys of the Athabasca and the Clearwater, and one or two other small areas, the whole surface of the Dominion, from the boundary of the United States to Baffin-land, has been thoroughly ice-swept. In a paper read before the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Mr. J. Y. Buchanan demonstrated, from the results obtained by the chemical analysis of numerous specimens of mud dredged up on the Challenger Expedition and on the west coast of Scotland, that Marine Organisms perform the same work in the comminution of the mineral matter found at the bottom of the sea, that earth-worms do in the renewal of terrestrial soil. NEW BOOKS. Zehn Jahre in Aequatoria, und die Rückkehr mit Emin Pacha. Von MAJOR GAETANO CASATI. Bamberg: Buchnersche Verlagsbuchhandlung, 1891. With the exception of the "Learned Doctor" himself, there are few, if any, witnesses of the tragic fall of the Egyptian Equatorial Province more competent than Major Casati to give evidence in this respect. The public may therefore be credited with an eager desire to learn what Major Casati has to say. Opinions will be divided on the true merits and geographical value of this work. Unfortunately, Major Casati lost the bulk, if not all, of his notes, on the occasion of his captivity by King Chua (better known as Kabba Rega); so that the author was bound to draw upon his memory for much of the information he supplies, and, presumably, on his imagination for the numerous dialogues that enliven his pages. Perhaps for the same reason, or, it may be, on account of haste, Major Casati's narrative reminds one of nothing more striking than the rambling reminiscences of a man broken down in spirit. It is almost impossible to follow him in his disconnected accounts of wanderings in a strange land, interspersed as these are with interjected paragraphs and chapters, the chief excuse for the appearance of which would appear to be that a place had to be found for them somewhere. This discontinuity of subject, accompanied by a careless literary style, materially detracts from the merits of the book. Major Casati endeavours to be an impartial, or at least an honest, witness of events that passed under his own observation. He is not always in agreement with Emin Pacha, for very often we find him in active or passive opposition; but he is perfectly frank in stating his objections. Of course, without hearing Emin Pacha, it is difficult to apportion blame, simply because his views and those of Major Casati did not happen to agree on certain important questions of administration. As to recriminations, we have had enough of them, on all sides. It is, however, of interest to note that, far from dealing with the so-called "rebellion" in the sensational style of Mr. Jephson, Major Casati refers to it in matter-offact terms. Perhaps he was accustomed to that kind of thing. He says that Mr. Jephson was at no time considered a prisoner, but only a "guest," if an unwilling one. The "rebel Council" he styles the "General Assembly" or "Provisional Government," whilst the chief conspirator himself is respectfully called the Regent. In brief, Major Casati throws new light on the fall of the Province, but it is a light that only increases the depths of the shadows. When Major Casati narrates his own travels, though our geographical information cannot be said to be thereby greatly enhanced, it must be remembered that he was one of the pioneers in the Wellé-Makwa-M'bangi basin, and that his original information has now for several years been public property. He, however, deserves the credit of breaking new ground. In spite of what has been said in dispraise of his work, Major Casati will, we hope, find many readers. One is deeply impressed by the courage, devotion, and generosity of spirit that appear to have characterised Major Casati in his adventurous career in the Súdan. In the midst of his greatest trials his thoughts always turned to others, whose sufferings he endeavoured to alleviate. Both volumes are handsomely illustrated. The illustrations, which are very numerous and are varied in style, are not particularly well reproduced; moreover, some of the subjects are in bad taste, and a good many of the pictures are reproduced, without acknowledgment, from Dr. Buchta's photographs. Anleitung zur Bearbeitung meteorologischer Beobachtungen für die Klimatologie. Von Dr. HUGO MEYER, Assistent am Königlichen meteorologischen Institut. Berlin: Verlag von Julius Springer, 1891. Pp. 187. Owing to the multiplication of meteorological stations and the publication of their records, a vast supply of material is now available for climatological investigations, and the observatory staffs are too small to cope with the accumulations. It is, therefore, the object of the author, in publishing this work, to enlist assistants in the task of reducing to order the records of observations and ascertaining the laws indicated by them. He has, therefore, collected the chief methods and theorems employed in dealing with such records, dividing his work into two parts: the first treating of the manipulation of varying quantities, especially by means of curves, and the other with the application of the methods to meteorological phenomena. To those who are prepared to devote time and thought to the subject it will be a useful book, containing, as it does, information to be sought elsewhere in many separate volumes. Dr. Meyer draws particular attention to the advantage of the "Scheitelwerth " over the arithmetical mean usually employed. This "Scheitelwerth," or, as Fechner calls it, the "greatest density value," is that round which the greatest number of observations congregate. Take, for example, the temperature of any given month, and draw a curve, the abscisse of which represent temperatures and the ordinates the frequency of the corresponding temperature in percentages of the records of observations taken at some fixed hour of the day. The highest point of this curve gives the culminating value alluded to. The substitution of this value, in certain cases, for the usual mean seems to us worthy of consideration. A few days of exceptionally high or low temperature may cause a considerable difference in the mean for the month, and thus a false impression of the character of the month may be formed. If, also, the probability of temperature for any month in the year be calculated from such data, the result will be erroneous. When, however, a long series of years is taken, it may be expected that the deviations will counterbalance one another, and, therefore, we are not inclined to attach quite so much importance to the culminating value as Dr. Meyer claims for it. Klimaschwankungen seit 1700, nebst Bemerkungen über die Klimaschwankungen der Diluvialzeit. Von Dr. EDUARD BRÜCKNER, a. o. Professor der Geographie an der Universität zu Bern. Mit einer Tafel, 13 Figuren im Texte und zahlreichen Tabellen. Wien und Olmütz: Ed. Hölzel, 1890. Pp. 324. This work is one of Professor Penck's Geographische Abhandlungen, and one of the most valuable of those excellent publications. The author has collected and thoroughly sifted an immense quantity of material, and the labour and erudition devoted to his task merit the highest admiration. Not content with purely meteorological records, he has called to his aid investigations into the variations of the level in the Caspian and other isolated lakes, the movement of glaciers, the breaking-up of the ice in rivers, and the dates of vintages. The evidence derived from these sources has led him to the conclusion that the variations of climate form a cycle of 35 years. Considering how new the science of meteorology is, and that trustworthy records of meteorological phenomena can be obtained only for a comparatively short period, the exactness of this period may be doubted, but Dr. Brückner is able to produce much confirmatory evidence of its approximate correctness. He is inclined to believe that the variations of climate are connected in some way or other with the emission of heat from the sun, but rejects the theory that they follow the sun-spot periods. He admits that these exercise a certain amount of influence, and that, of late years especially, the coldest and wettest years have approximately coincided with the maxima of sun-spots recurring every eleven years, but this agreement does not always appear when a long period is taken, nor do the meteorological phenomena vary in the same ratio as the sunspots. In an interesting chapter on the results of change of climate Dr. Brückner deals with its effect on agricultural products, floods, etc., a subject which promises to become a fruitful field for the scientific explorer. Bibliotheca Geographica Palaestinae. Chronologisches Verzeichniss der auf der Geographie des Heiligen Landes bezüglichen Literatur von 333 bis 1878 und Versuch einer Cartographie. Herausgegeben von REINHOLD RÖHRICHT. Berlin H. Reuther's Verlagsbuchhandlung, 1890. Pp. 744. This important work is an extension of Dr. Titus Tobler's Bibliotheca published in 1867, and is the result of three years of labour, having been commenced at the end of 1887. The list of only the most important works consulted contains the titles of no fewer than 314. The number of authors, journals, etc. recorded is 3515, and the dates of publication, translations, etc., are given. The enumeration of the writings of Major Conder occupies several pages, and a considerable space is devoted to Sir Charles Warren and others. It is a pity that so many typical errors have slipped in, at least among the English references. Not only are there such mistakes as bayways" for byways, "resultat" for result, "pistorial" for pictorial, but adjectives relating to countries and peoples, such as Greek, Christian, Armenian, etc., are printed with small-type initials, from which it may be concluded that the editor is unacquainted with the English custom in these cases. But such trifles, though they ought to be corrected in a future edition, do not detract from the real merit and usefulness of this great work. The cartography will, perhaps, not compare favourably with the preceding part of the volume, chiefly because map-making has made great strides in recent years, and most of the best maps of Palestine have been published since 1878. It contains, however, 747 entries. Chinesische Studien. Von FRIEDRICH HIRTH. Band I. München und Leipzig: The writer, in a too-modest preface, explains that the papers collected together in this book are the outcome of a study in leisure hours during the last ten years or so, and have in part been already published in various learned organs in Germany. He deprecates the sharp criticism of the learned and the specialist. He need entertain no anxiety on that score. His essays rest upon the soundest foundation many years' thorough study of original Chinese writings and his own clear, strong, common-sense. Even where one might feel called upon to dissent from his conclusions, one cannot but respect his reasoning, and admire his learning, his shrewdness, and his sober judgment. The papers are not so miscellaneous in character as the table of contents seems at the first glance to imply. More than one-half treat of the commercial history of China, and her historical geography. Amongst the more especially interesting papers are discussions on the commercial relations between China and the West (Syria) in ancient and mediæval times, the porcelain industry of China, the history of glass-making, and of the invention of paper in the Heavenly Kingdom, the Chinese annals as sources for European and Oriental history, the present commercial conditions of China, her bureaucratic system, foreign words in Chinese and words imported into the international language of commerce from China and the China trade, and the geography of the province of Kuang-tung. Readers interested in the history of commerce will find much that is extremely valuable in these papers; and all who are interested in China will hardly close the book without having enriched their knowledge in some respects. The author has certainly taken a wise step in preserving these useful essays from obscurity and neglect. The book is beautifully printed on excellent paper. Die Bildenden Künste bei den Dayaks auf Borneo. Ein Beitrag zur allgemeinen Kunstgeschichte. Von ALOIS RAIMUND HEIN, k.k. Professor und Akademischer Maler. Mit einem Titelbilde, zehn Tafeln, neunzig Text-Illustrationen, und einer Karte. Wien: Alfred Hölder, 1890. Pp. xiv + 228. Professor Hein makes, in the present book, a useful contribution to the general history of Art, especially to that department which is not perhaps studied so much as it deserves to be, the artistic faculties and artistic creations of the less civilised peoples. The Dyaks excel in decorative work far more than in painting, architecture, etc. Many of the readers of this magazine would, we are sure, be greatly surprised to see the beautiful examples of Dyak decorative work figured in the plates to this volume. It is no exaggeration to say that they deserve to rank alongside the decorative designs of some of the highest civilised nations. Prof. Hein's book treats fully and interestingly of the building arts, the modelling, painting, metal, clay, and wood work, textile arts, and tattooing of the Dyaks; and it has an admirable equipment of plates, indexes, tables, lists of authorities, etc. We recommend the work to the serious attention of all students who are interested in the history of art. Ethnographische Beiträge zur Kenntniss des Karolinen-Archipels. Von J. S. KUBARY, unter Mitwirkung von J. D. E. SCHMELTZ, Conservator am ethnographischen Reichsmuseum in Leiden. Erstes Heft, mit 15 Tafeln. Leiden: Verlag von P. W. M. Trap, 1889. Pp. iv + 114. This book, which makes its appearance under the protecting ægis of Professor A. Bastian, of Berlin, is the first portion of a work on the people of the Caroline Islands, by a gentleman who has spent some years collecting his materials on the islands of the group about which he writes. The present instalment treats of the money current amongst the natives of Yap and the Pelew (Palau) Islands, the methods of house-construction employed by the people of the first-named island, the industry and trade of the Rook islanders, and some account of the Western Carolines. The book bids fair to be a thorough and exhaustive study of the islanders dealt with, and being based upon first-hand observation, and illustrated with a profusion of plates, will in all probability take its place as an acknowledged authority; and so should be useful to the philologist, the folk-lorist, the ethnologist, and the student of primitive arts and industries, as well as to the geographer. Religion der Alten Aegypter. Dargestellt von Dr. A. WIEDEMANN. Münster in Westphalen, 1890. Verlag der Aschendorffschen Buchhandlung. Pp. 175. This is the third volume of a series of histories of non-Christian religions. Its author has already won a reputation as a writer on ancient Egyptian history; and the present work will undoubtedly add to that reputation. Dr. Wiedemann writes VOL. VII. U |